Hm. To be honest, I'm not really impressed by this essay. Maybe it's because I'm in too rational of a frame of mind, but the truly extensive use of the question mark made the whole argument seem rather hand wave-y.
The author has clearly done his research, but the essay itself felt more like a tipsy friend telling you a wild tale than a well argued thesis. I would've liked to see more detail on the research into neanderthals and the other race he conjectured were dwarves, or into the blood memories. Small animal studies showing specific, simple sensory experiences can encoded in short time-frames into genetics just isn't that convincing that by some unfathomably complex mechanism some people are blessed with genetic memory of whole mythologies and stories.
I am quite sympathetic to the argument of the mythology being "more true than reality"/manifestations of divine order. Humans are very, very good at truth-seeking and I think it's intuitive that our most powerful narratives contain deep truths about the universe. Although I'm not Christian, I do have some faith in a sacred order to the universe, although I hold that faith weakly.
Interested why you consider this piece such a masterwork. Some of the speculations were just sorta outlandish and killed credibility for me, such as Star wars being a true or somewhat true divination of the future. Although I guess I am sure the heros journey will repeat many times if we humans spread among the stars (unless we fundamentally change due to ai).
Regardless, loved the essay club as a whole and although I didn't get to all of them I really appreciate what you did by putting these together!!! Sad it's ending but glad you're trying other projects!
Fair assessment! This essay is very speculative, and I suspect that some of Andrew's ideas can't or won't be proven. At least not in the rational or scientific way that would make these ideas easier to accept. That's actually part of what I enjoyed about this - he doesn't limit himself to just those things he can prove. He's willing to push beyond the bounds of reason into areas that are strange and hard to accept.
Another thing I enjoyed about this essay is that it takes a lot of ideas that I already find interesting and/or compelling, especially those concerning the philosophical and metaphysical truths behind myth, and brings them all together in a cohesive way. Andrew has essentially written a new myth for the modern age, and has done so using ideas, symbols, and stories that are familiar to us (e.g., Jung/Campbell's hero's journey, Middle Earth) but still feel 'mythological'. Some of his speculations *are* outlandish, that's true, but I think nitpicking the finer details is the wrong way to read this. By comparison, it would be missing the point to dismiss the Arthurian legends because they're not a historically accurate representation of medieval Britain.
I'm glad you enjoyed Essay Club, and I appreciate your appreciation! It was hard work at times, but I learned a lot by close-reading so many great essays, it's been very intellectually fruitful for me. I hope it was the same for you!
Hm. To be honest, I'm not really impressed by this essay. Maybe it's because I'm in too rational of a frame of mind, but the truly extensive use of the question mark made the whole argument seem rather hand wave-y.
The author has clearly done his research, but the essay itself felt more like a tipsy friend telling you a wild tale than a well argued thesis. I would've liked to see more detail on the research into neanderthals and the other race he conjectured were dwarves, or into the blood memories. Small animal studies showing specific, simple sensory experiences can encoded in short time-frames into genetics just isn't that convincing that by some unfathomably complex mechanism some people are blessed with genetic memory of whole mythologies and stories.
I am quite sympathetic to the argument of the mythology being "more true than reality"/manifestations of divine order. Humans are very, very good at truth-seeking and I think it's intuitive that our most powerful narratives contain deep truths about the universe. Although I'm not Christian, I do have some faith in a sacred order to the universe, although I hold that faith weakly.
Interested why you consider this piece such a masterwork. Some of the speculations were just sorta outlandish and killed credibility for me, such as Star wars being a true or somewhat true divination of the future. Although I guess I am sure the heros journey will repeat many times if we humans spread among the stars (unless we fundamentally change due to ai).
Regardless, loved the essay club as a whole and although I didn't get to all of them I really appreciate what you did by putting these together!!! Sad it's ending but glad you're trying other projects!
Fair assessment! This essay is very speculative, and I suspect that some of Andrew's ideas can't or won't be proven. At least not in the rational or scientific way that would make these ideas easier to accept. That's actually part of what I enjoyed about this - he doesn't limit himself to just those things he can prove. He's willing to push beyond the bounds of reason into areas that are strange and hard to accept.
Another thing I enjoyed about this essay is that it takes a lot of ideas that I already find interesting and/or compelling, especially those concerning the philosophical and metaphysical truths behind myth, and brings them all together in a cohesive way. Andrew has essentially written a new myth for the modern age, and has done so using ideas, symbols, and stories that are familiar to us (e.g., Jung/Campbell's hero's journey, Middle Earth) but still feel 'mythological'. Some of his speculations *are* outlandish, that's true, but I think nitpicking the finer details is the wrong way to read this. By comparison, it would be missing the point to dismiss the Arthurian legends because they're not a historically accurate representation of medieval Britain.
I'm glad you enjoyed Essay Club, and I appreciate your appreciation! It was hard work at times, but I learned a lot by close-reading so many great essays, it's been very intellectually fruitful for me. I hope it was the same for you!
Andrew is truly an incredible writer and has often inspired me.
Agreed!