Michael Shermer Quotes About Myth

Quotes about: Myth

• Myths are stories that express meaning, morality or motivation. Whether they are true or not is irrelevant.

  Michael Shermer

  Motivational, Stories, Morality

  Michael Shermer (2016). “Skeptic: Viewing the World with a Rational Eye”, p.111, Henry Holt and Company

• Myths are about the human struggle to deal with the great passages of time and life--birth, death, marriage, the transitions from childhood to adulthood to old age. They meet a need in the psychological or spiritual nature of humans that has absolutely nothing to do with science. To try to turn a myth into a science, or a science into a myth, is an insult to myths, an insult to religion, and an insult to science. In attempting to do this, creationists have missed the significance, meaning, and sublime nature of myths. They took a beautiful story of creation and re-creation and ruined it.

  Michael Shermer

  Beautiful, Spiritual, Struggle

• Creationists have also changed their name ... to intelligent design theorists who study 'irreducible complexity' and the 'abrupt appearance' of life-yet more jargon for 'God did it.' ... Notice that they have no interest in replacing evolution with native American creation myths or including the Code of Hammarabi alongside the posting of the Ten Commandments in public schools.

  Michael Shermer

  Native American, School, Science

• Myths, whether in written or visual form, serve a vital role of asking unanswerable questions and providing unquestionable answers. Most of us, most of the time, have a low tolerance for ambiguity and uncertainty. We want to reduce the cognitive dissonance of not knowing by filling the gaps with answers. Traditionally, religious myths have served that role, but today — the age of science — science fiction is our mythology.

  Michael Shermer

  Religious, Knowing, Tolerance

• But because we live in an age of science, we have a preoccupation with corroborating our myths.

  Michael Shermer

  Science, Age, Preoccupation

• Plato wove historical fact into literary myth.

  Michael Shermer

  Plato, Historical, Facts

  Michael Shermer (2016). “Skeptic: Viewing the World with a Rational Eye”, p.113, Henry Holt and Company

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