Opening the window between science and myth can also bring new clarity about the importance of engaging the question of mystery.
Our modern attitudes often make it difficult to engage myth, but when thinkers engage myth as mystery, they cease to be judges.
Ancient myths are basically portraits of the imagination experience of our ancestors. The story of scientific discovery illustrates the potential benefits of resisting the reflex to judge our ancestors for the supposed ignorance or backwardness.
This reflex to judge is why calling something a myth today is virtually synonymous with calling something stupid.
By postponing judgment, and engaging myth as mystery, we open up an exchange of perspective with our ancestors, and notwithstanding the benefits of our overwhelming technological advantage.
Thoughtfully engaging myth allows us to see that our ancestor’s perspective on the extraordinary events of history, while undoubtedly imaginative, and sometimes incorrect, are not stupid.
