When we think of mythology, we often think of the gods of antiquity, Zeus (Greek), Jupiter (Roman), Odin (Norse) and associated stories. But college professors will relegate Judeo-Christian teachings, particularly the Bible, as mythology too. Modern orthodoxy and political piety suggests that God, gods, or the supernatural is more or less a figment of the past; the modern intellect does not subscribed to such fairy tales, legends and myths.<\/p>\n
But is the enlightened man of modernity void of religion, mythology or unscientific belief?<\/p>\n
Here I document some of what I deem the pantheon of modern mythology—stories crafted out of whole cloth to explain the universe or the human condition\u2014things discussed in the patois of modern parlance as factual despite any shred of substantiating evidence.<\/p>\n
The \u201cmyth\u201d of creation as accounted in Genesis is unique in the creation stories of antiquity in that no other deity but the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob created the universe ex nihilo<\/em>; all other myths fabricated the world out of existing content\u2014that is until now. Stephen Hawking, famed physicist and modern high priest from Oxford University asserts that the universe was created ex nihilo<\/em> without a primary cause. In essence, the laws of physics are sufficient for explaining the cause and origin of the universe and not some unnamed deity. But then, I ask, who or what created the laws of physics?<\/p>\n Because the universe is ever expanding, nay accelerating, the once sacred idea that an expanding and contracting universe ad infinitum<\/em> being sufficient to explain the fortuitous anthrocentricity of universal constants\u2014this idea is now relegated to, well, myth. So the idea that, after countless cycles, Earth happen to hit the jackpot to support rare sentient life has been replaced by the mythological world of the multiverse<\/em>.<\/p>\n The basic idea of the multiverse is that event pathways are infinite from point to point or moment to moment each possibility constituting its own universe. I may decide to continue writing this essay or get coffee. In one universe I get coffee whereas in this universe I continue writing\u2014and that\u2019s just two universes. In a third universe I may have never started to write or even existed. The \u201cMirror, Mirror\u201d episode of the old Star Trek series was a primordial illustration of these parallel universes where Spock is logically evil and the federation is governed by sex, power, ambition and murder. By the same reasoning, somewhere in a parallel universe Bill and Hillary Clinton are pious missionaries.<\/p>\n The problem with the multiverse hypothesis is that it exists on paper, perhaps even as a mathematical model, but is not scientific in any way and has been criticized as such. So why are Christians ridiculed for their belief in the parallel universes of heaven, hell and purgatory, but the modern man is given scientific accolades for his belief of the mythological multiverse? Go figure.<\/p>\n Fill in the blank: \u201cOne day science will _____.\u201d We may believe that scientific research will cure cancer, fix global warming, end hunger, or, as Benjamin Franklin failed in his documented pursuit, have farts smell exquisite. There is an unquestioned and accepted belief that, given enough persistence, money and time, science will solve all questions and mysteries. But where does this faith come from and why do we have it? Why should we believe that the biodiversity of the Amazon rainforest could supply humanity with new and potent pharmaceuticals? Why should we even believe that plants are medicinal to animals at all? Is that scientific or fortuitous?<\/p>\n The origins of such belief is based in medieval theology from the likes of St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Bonaventure. The spiritual economy of orthodox Christianity was, in the classical sense, a science in which truth could be extrapolated from revealed and (at least then) undisputed principles\u2014think Euclid\u2019s Elements<\/em>. So then, if the God of salvation was also that of creation, one expected regularity, order and law to govern the physical world as well. Sure enough, they do, and there is good reason why modern science and technological advancement emerged predominantly in Western Christian civilization despite being centuries behind civilizations like China and India whose mythological cultures were capricious and unpredictable.<\/p>\n And sometimes our belief in science leads us to believe in \u201cscientific\u201d myths. Agreed that science is also responsible for debunking these myths but it just goes to show that so-called rational people championing the cause of reason are as dogmatic and fundamental as anyone else. In addition to the static universe myth, consider a few more myths debunked over time:<\/p>\n Rationality of Numbers<\/em> \u2013 the ancient Greeks, namely the Pythagoreans, believed all numbers could be expressed as the ratio of integers\u2014a.k.a. rational numbers. But then the unspeakable happened\u2014when such a number could not be found to express the hypotenuse of a right triangle with a base and height of unity, it was an act of apostasy to admit that the square root of two was not nor could it ever be rational. Hence, irrational number were born and we know a few by name: pi, e, phi and the square root of two. By the way, the man of the Pythagorean order who disclosed this heresy was ex communicated by strangulation.<\/p>\n Aether<\/em> \u2013 When electromagnetic energy exhibited wave properties, it was surmised that, like sound and mechanical energy, light required a medium through which to travel. Scientist called this fluid the aether after the mythological element. Good thing since it was discovered at the end of the 19th<\/sup> century that electromagnetic waves traveled through vacuum and the existence of aether was as mythical as its namesake.<\/p>\n The Quintic<\/em> \u2013 the famed quadratic equation of high school math had a closed form solution known since antiquity. Bumping things up an order, the cubic equation was not found to have a closed form solution until the 16th<\/sup> century. And yet, within the same period did the same group of Italians discover the solution to the fourth order quartic. It was just a matter of time before the fifth order quintic<\/em> and, perhaps, all high order of polynomial would be solved. Alas, it took several centuries before Galois determined that all polynomial equations from the quintic on up have no such solution.<\/p>\n Remember Piltdown man? The missing link between humans and our knuckle-dragging ancestors? Ever so quietly, Piltdown man became Put-down man after it was determined that the fossil was a fraudulent combination of human skull and animal jawbone.<\/p>\n And how can we forget Archaeoraptor of recent memory? This missing link between reptile and bird species was pushed by National Geographic Magazine as proof-positive evolution is the creative force in the universe, and, by implication, not some silly supreme being. \u00a0Even as they unveiled the fossil find, there was doubt in the scientific community regarding authenticity but why should that stop the faith-based institution that is Nat Geo? Peer-review, schmeer review!<\/p>\n Anthropocentrism was given a punch when Copernicus set forth the idea that the Earth revolved around the sun instead of the other way around. So then, if we aren\u2019t the center of the universe, sola fidelis, there must be other life forms with bigger breeches than ourselves\u2014right?<\/p>\n Sounds plausible, and I don\u2019t disagree. But I do see that the search for such life is motivated by faith. The Fermi Paradox gives pause to this plausibility. The paradox basically states if intelligent life exists somewhere in the universe and they do, in fact, have breeches that are centuries if not millions of years bigger than our arrogant human race\u2014wouldn\u2019t we know it by now?<\/p>\nThe multiverse<\/h2>\n
Systems of Belief<\/h1>\n
Scientific Research<\/h2>\n
Some Scientific Myths<\/h2>\n
Mythological Creatures<\/h2>\n
Missing Lynx<\/h3>\n
Extraterrestrial Intelligent Life<\/h3>\n