14 May 2014

gods for science's sake

As opposed to the popular view that science followed long after religion - early science might very well have been key in the formation of our first myths and religions.
Think of the early gods and myths as narrative containers that would have helped with the storage and transmission of important survival information about complex natural patterns from one generation to the next, before there were other forms of storage and transmission such as the written word.
For example: most early cultures had myths and god-stories of one form or the other that would have helped us remember changing star positions and how they predicted the changing seasons - essential for agriculture.
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Nothing new, but I liked the twist.