The Flaw In the American Myth |
| I noted, in Part One, that Meta Programming and the mechanism of human memory are powerful means by which we build our personal and collective gestalts of the world. In effect, our myths speak to us in “command-language” mode inducing us to action without the oversight of further thought. We do not directly control this process, as it is a necessary survival tool, and it is hardwired into our system. however we are not a slave to it either. I will develop this thesis further in Part Two and show how the myth elements described before have combined to form a witch’s brew which shows every sign of becoming dangerous to our society and life on this planet. This also does not have to be. We merely need to examine our beliefs and become aware of how we collectively manipulate them and in turn ourselves. This means, as a society, we have an important task ahead which is to deliberately recreate our MYTH and thus or society. |
| This is an immensely creative challenge which will require the participation of the majority of us and employ the arts, tools and means which now we are abusing by neglect. There is no question if we have the talent and means to do this. The question is if we will wake up from our semi-drugged state and focus the will, attention and resources to take the necessary actions to do so. In times of old, the recreation of a social myth came about organically, emerged over time, and failures was largely local. Our context now is a radically different one. We are a global society which is wired together as the recent 2008 credit market melt down so ably illustrated. Remaining on our present vector, we will experience more change in the next generation then the entire known history of Humanity. We are on a collision course with our future and flying blind. Time is not on our side yet we need most to take the leisure to think and reinvent our selve and our planet as the work of art which it is. |
| Myths are not simple, examined beliefs. they are a synergy of many threads which sum up to make a social context - a paradigm. Our thinking take place within this framework. The same belief, “a person has a right to defend one’s self,” will play entirely differently in this context: the universe in malevolent and humans sinful, violent and out to get me; or, in this one: life is benign, I am competent and the vast majority of humans are cooperative, peaceful and loving, and only a few are sick and prone to aggression. When a quick action is required, you do not have time to review your entire metaphysics. Your Myth is a framework in which you can quickly determine a course and execute an instruction: fight, run, negotiate. Without this ability, we would not be here today. Nor, would art and almost all things creative exist. In between times of action it is prudent to review past consequences, imagine possible futures and examine one’s context. If you live in a society which finds itself in an ubiquitous, perpetual “War on Terror” you know that you live in a society which has not examined its hidden design assumptions and is locked down in permanent, mindless act-mode. |
| MYTH is the measure of social self-esteem. |
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| These myth elements outlined in Part One combine to make a powerful and compelling (North) American Myth. The Myth is: |
| We are heroic, independent and strong yet victims; |
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The Distortion of the AMERICAN MYTH |
| Social Myths run their course. They lose fitness with the world of which they are a part. Doing so they become irrelevant and sometime dangerous. This is our circumstance today. We see ourselves as a curious mixture of self reliant hero, enforcer of the truth, and victim. This is one reason why our foreign policy is so passive-aggressive. One minute indulgent and supporter of the world, another ready to fight and apply great destructive force, willing to impose our will and take what we want, all the while looking for the deal to exploit in the situation. We are good and pure - by definition. We are supporting freedom - by definition. Therefore, what we do must be good - by definition. The American people believing one thing; their government doing another, in their name, while special interests thrive. The greatest war budget in the world, 50% of the entire world’s, in the name of defense. We are good and seek peace - it is others who are bad and want to destroy us. Darwinism becomes social darwinism them mutates to out and out looting done in Adam Smith’s name yet bearing little semblance to what he actually wrote. |
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| It is time to reflect and think. Time to examine the foundations of our story. Time to ask if this story is programming us to go where we truly wish to be. It is time to rewrite it, and in doing so, to recreate ourselves, our society, our place in the world - and our future. |
| How do we do this? It starts with understanding the power of myth. It starts with not reversing the beneficial meaning of our myths. Our myths do lead, demand, guide. They are a statement of what we aspire to be - what we strive for. They can be degenerated by serving as a substitute for right action. We cannot say that we have stood for and fought for freedom and, therefore everything we do, no matter why or how we do it, is in the cause of freedom, is freedom. This perverts the concept and leads us down the path of self disillusion - the path of imperialism and fascism. We cannot say that we are the leading economy, the most inventive economy, and therefore others could not possibly compete with us and when they do something different from us - or something we do not understand - that is proof of their inferiority and poor political-economic system. This leads us down the path of self-satisfaction, sloth and denial. Ultimately, we will become second rate. With our many delusions, we have more than a toe in these waters today. |
| When someone seeks help with a mental problem the therapist can often help this person reinvent the story of the experiences which disturb them by bringing a broader perspective and range of information to the old memories. When an organization or society suffers trauma or falls victim to their own Myth, a similar process is necessary. The social memory must be put to be put into a new context. It must to be added to. It must be re-interpreted. This does not mean throwing aways our past. It means our past must be reinvented and retold. This is an immensely creative process and it takes reflection, self-awareness, mental courage and forgiveness - not outstanding social attributes of our time. |
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click on photo for scene by scene synopsis |
| On November 22, 2008, in our restored Point Arena Art Deco theatre I watch a live video streaming of the Metropolitan Opera’s new production of La Damination De Faust by Hector Berlioz based on a translation of Goethe’s Faust. |
| Besides the beautiful music, the outstanding production and the pleasure which both brought, this was a timely personal experience for me. In this rendition of the Faust Myth, Faust is a serious and good man, elderly at the beginning of the tale, a scholar who had lost his faith in the good. Uninspired and tired of life he has fallen victim to melancholy and self pity. With this act, he exposes himself to Mephistopheles who turns Faust‘s virtues against him and in the end captures his soul. |
| There are many paths to hell and one of the well trodden ones is falling into the illusions of alienation and depression as a consequence of trying to lead a contemplative and good life. One’s own seeking to make a better world can lead to an arrogance of the worst kind: the insidious belief that by virtue of virtue and quest that you are superior to and not fully a member of humanity. |
| There is an old saying that a hungry man can always be trapped. Faust trapped himself by allowing his vision of the good to make his life boring - he no longer could see and feel life. At the moment he recalled his youthful vision, he allowed Mephistopheles to lead him astray. In Marguerite he saw all that he thought he had lost. Faust seduced himself, lost patience, and thereby destroyed what he had sought to gain - this is the very essence of fanaticism of all kinds. |
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| This Paper is, by necessity, not complete. The subject is one that several books may not fully cover - certainly a task way beyond an autobiographical Notebook. |
| I cannot proscribe what the American Myth should be. As an artist, I can contribute to it. My primary art is the act of making architecture. Architecture is the embodiment of a culture’s values, aspirations and sense of practicality. Architecture is structure and structure wins. The perspective which I bring to the making of architecture spans the time from WWII to the present. My experience primarily in the U.S.A. with bits of time in Europe and Asia. Clearly there is a Human Myth as well as many many local renderings. I focus, in this Paper, on North America as I have a deeper experience here to employ as a basis of thought. |
| In my 52 years of work (as of 2008), I have focused on the integration of three structure-processes: The physical environment of work and living, the process of work, the technology of cognitive augmentation. I am not a scientist, a philosopher, an academic nor writer. I have read extensively and read deeply into the majority of fields which capture and document the legacy of human knowledge. I try to get my facts right yet do not have a great concern if my understanding or rendering of them complies with the social consensus of any given moment. As a designer, I am far more concerned with what I can do with an idea than if I can defend it to the Academy. The proof, to me, is found in what is build and the consequences of living with and using these ideas, processes, artifacts. |
| The architecture of which I am a part of making shelters and organizes human activities while expressing certain goals and aspirations in the form of of unique ways of experience reality. My work of facilitating human design is focused on providing the means by which individuals, organizations and humanity can better create their own future by the practice of individual and GroupGenius®. Technology augmentation - including multimedia - is critical to my task. While poor architecture is always unfortunate, ineffective work processes a tragic waste, the abuse of media is potentially the most dangerous for we all swim in it the majority of our waking hours. Together, environment, process and technology make a great tool for liberation, insight and progress yet can be the means of great tragedy. Hitler’s use of these means being an archetypical example. |
| In all of this work, I lean from, employ and contribute to the craft of myth-making and the creation of strong-memory. It is our collective Human Story which will determine our future. The metaphysical is our dreaming of this story; The physical is our building the dream. There is, as far as I know, no escaping this reality. How we practice the craft of becoming human is emergent. |
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Matt Taylor
Nashville
September 11, 2005
SolutionBox voice of this document:
INSIGHT • POLICY • PROGRAM
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click on graphic for explanation of SolutionBox |
posted: September 11, 2005
revised: Novenber 27, 2008
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(note: this document is about 60% finished)
Copyright© Matt Taylor 2005, 2008 |
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