History as a modern mythology

October 24th, 2023

What is a better way to face our own arbitrariness than through mythology and history? That arbitrariness is rooted in a constant and insatiable need to confirm our own identities. Going by the concepts of “myth” and “history”, which are our cultural terms that are vague enough with the addition of clumsiness and ambiguity and stirred by emotions, will fit everybody and every point of view.

But myths are weird — they refer to the stories of other people that we see mostly as inoffensive but also as strange and wrongheaded and implausible. So, that leaves history — which is our story, the story we believe in, and the story we allow to shape our identity. I find it rather curious and fundamentally wrong that people still assume that their group or national “history” is a true account of reality. The fact that so many people confuse those terms shows the continuing validity of the myth.

Mythology (in the sense of scholarly pursuit) and history (in the sense of “popular” knowledge) function in similar ways. I believe that in our societies history has replaced mythology and fulfills the same basic function. That is — to give us simple explanations for complex issues, give us meanings of the things we do, provide us with easy ways to mold human/group/national identities and boost our self-worth. The problem is that common and popular knowledge of history nowadays is worth as much as belief in Cyclops and werewolves. And that all stems from the way history is taught in schools — with full emphasis on a nationalistic, bombastic, facts-to-fit-preconceived-narrative retelling of glorious achievements of one nation and the dastardly actions of others (usually the nearest neighbors). Truth is seldom found there, and as in myths — there is a need to peel countless layers of mumbled words and uthright lies to find any reference to reality.