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Myths and mythical world-views
I'm not an expert on myths, so in what I say here, there may be an underlying definition on myths that differ from the usual. I have come to understand mythical thinking as the way human mind works in its most natural form. Myths are attempts to make something we don't understand fit together, make sense. In that way, myths are pre-scientific, both in the negative sense of sometimes replacing real knowledge, but in other ways, myths are created the way all knowledge is started. Understanding how mythical thinking works, is closely related to understanding story telling. In one of his books Umberto Eco has written a chapter on Narratology, explaining the laws of these processes. Myths have created societies and art and given life a meaning. But myths have also led to human sacrifice, mass murder, and destruction. The way I see it, the German Nazi movement, was basically a rather unhealthy mixing of myth and technology. In a modern world, where the technology is advancing, checking modern or living myths is essential. Man has devised the scientific method to do just this: prediction and checking under minute control. Important sources on how to avoid getting trapped into modern myths can be found here: The Skeptic's Dictionary Guide to the New Millennium Alphabetical Index
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