Response 7: More on The Precession of Simulation
Another thing this article got me thinking about is mythology. Mythology, for the longest time, was created in times before science as a means to explain the world around us. Mythology was also used as allegorical accounts of things that may or may not have happened (though they may have been considered truthful around the time of their inception) to impart lessons or morals upon the listeners/readers. With that being said, is mythology nothing more than stories simulating events of the times that again, may or may not have actually happened. Is the point of creating these stories to simulate events that might occur in our own lives? To some extent, yes. They may not simulate the events to a T, but they use characters as templates for ourselves so that we may learn from their mistakes. Take The Odyssey as an example. Odysseus was punished for his insolence towards the gods (specifically Poseidon) and was scattered all over the Grecian landscape for 17 years. It was meant to teach people to be respectful of the gods lest they incur their wrath. To us, these are just stories, mythology, if you will. But at the time, this was considered an account of history and was revered as such. But again, it’s just a story. You can see how fictitious tales meant to be allegorical can become reality if one believes it really happened. The same idea can be applied to other works of mythology and even religion. So what is real? Is all that we touch and see real or is what we simply believe in without any confirmation from our senses real? Or can they both be real? Can stories in history be reduced to mythology thus making them nothing more than simulations of events that could happen? Not exactly, but the morals these stories impart have a very real impact on our lives.
