> It has always been my belief that early religions were mostly the
result of
> wondering why things are the way they are. This is very evident in
early roman
> and greek mythology. Probably representative of most early
"mythology", although
> I don't know enough to make that kind of a judgment. Once stories
were told and
> believed, some people probably saw this as a way to gain power over
others, and
> they manipulated the stories accordingly. Others maybe saw this as a
chance to
> influence people in a positive manner, and did so to the best of
there abilities.
[snip]
> - -Paul Prestopnik
I'm interested in this stuff. Ever read Riane Eisler's "Sacred
Pleasure"? It's all about tracing the memes associated with sex to
their (Western) historical roots, and exposing their relationship to the
dominant power structure.
Right now I'm reading a kick-ass book called "Autopoeisis and Cognition"
by Maturana and Varela, which is writing toward a theory of how levels
(one 'level' emerges from another in a system...) interact and how
something emergent comes to be autonomous. It's really neat.
Paul Edlefsen
Cogs:CSAI V&E at Sussex for Spring and Summer '98
paule@cogs.susx.ac.uk