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I gave this idea a great deal of thought at one point, all the while observing my five children develop, paying close attention to how and when they noticed things in their environment, how they explained phenomena to themselves and each other; avoiding my own input as long as possible so that the child’s originality would develop as naturally as possible. One of the earliest observations I made about my children (and other children with whom they interacted) and their reactions to their environment, was that they pretty much just accept it as it is. They don’t seem to need “explanations” for it. It is what it is until some adult repeats to them some story about it which may entertain them or frighten them. Until “stories” are told to them, children are intensely busy just imitating what they see other people do, most generally the adults in their lives. Without fantastic tales being told to them, their games of make-believe consist of ordinary mundane dramas. Even when they are told magical stories about flying horses or people with super powers, they often resist these dramas in preference for those that directly apply to their own experience and observation. Perhaps the comparison of the development of a child’s thinking in relation to their environment, to the development of evolutionary thinking of human beings in general is a stretch. But, I do think that it ought to give us some pause to question just where and how the creation of myth and legend actually served human beings evolutionarily speaking. Why would anyone tell a story about a man with magic sandals that enabled him to fly if they are merely anthropomorphizing the forces of nature? If it is a “magical being” such as a “god”, why does he need sandals to fly with? He could just as easily have wings that are part of his physical structure. He’s already a god, after all. He’s not human. So why the sandals? Why should a technological device that enables a man to fly be part of an archaic ontology? myth actually : served human beings Indeed, there may be an “archetypal pool of ideas” from which all humanity may draw in dreams and visions, but that leads us into realms of thought that do not answer the simple question of what benefit there was for howling savages to make up fantastic tales about the forces of nature, tales that also included certain elements that suggest a In the present day, there are all sorts of “mystical” groups and organizations that claim to be the recipients of ancient knowledge, what is commonly called “occultism”, or the “esoteric”, or magical practices. There is a plethora of books that purport to be scientific, but which totally reject mainstream science in any context. Subjects such as 382 Chapter Thirteen ‘certain elements that suggest a technology and not only a “magical state of being.”