Robert Hatch

SUBTOPIC:

 Darwin and Man’s Myth of Place in Creation

OBJECTIVES:

The students will:

1. describe the meanings of myth
2. identify myths which underlie science and the reactions to science
3. predict how the values represented by a given myth will affect decision making

Background Information

It is in the nature of social systems to create myths to express strongly held beliefs and shared values. Myth grows out of religious experience, history, art, environment, or other experiences of the group. As the journalist Bill Moyers wrote in his book of conversations with Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth, “Mythology is an interior road map of experience, drawn by people who have traveled it.” To Campbell himself, myths are not so much the search for meaning, or even the experience of meaning, but rather the experience of life. In this respect, at least, scientists as well as those engaged in the depths of experiential knowledge are creators of myths themselves.

Contemporaries tend to view myths as merely superstitious tales of bygone days. Myths are filled with hydras, dragons, earth mothers, people with mysterious powers, or flaming chariots. This understanding of myth is unnecessarily narrow. Our mythic language and symbols may have changed, but we still have and require myths.

A nation without shared myths lacks a vital binding force. Myths express those intangible qualities and beliefs which underlie political decision making. Myths fuel a nation’s progress and growth. For example, in the founding and expansion of our own nation, there operated a powerful frontier mythology propelled on the one hand by the forces of the Age of Reason of Newton and Locke, together with the feeling of a new Israel in a Promised Land, and, on the other hand, by our apparent limitless geographical expanse. Part of this mythology was to be expressed as an American counterpart to Rudyard Kipling’s “White Man’s Burden” in the 19th century belief about manifest destiny. 

A further example, this time of the function of myth in defining what Joseph Campbell called the “prime question of our time,” comes from Moyers’ introduction to The Power of Myth:

In [Campbell’s] final years he was striving for a new synthesis of science and spirit. “The shift from a geocentric to a heliocentric world view,” he wrote after the astronauts touched the moon, “seemed to have removed man from the center–and the center seemed so important. Spiritually, however, the center is where sight is. Stand on a height and view the horizon. Stand on the moon and view the whole earth rising–even, by way of television, in your parlor.” The result is an unprecedented expansion of horizon, one that could well serve in our age, as the ancient mythologies did in theirs, to cleanse the doors of perception “to the wonder, at once terrible and fascinating, of ourselves and of the universe.” He argued that it is not science that has diminished human beings or divorced us from divinity. On the contrary, the new discoveries of science “rejoin us to the ancients” by enabling us to recognize in this whole universe” a reflection magnified of our own most inward nature; so that we are indeed its ears, its eyes, its thinking, and its speech–or, in theological terms, God’s ears, God’s eyes, God’s thinking, and God’s Word.

A thinking society recognizes and seeks to understand its myths. People seek to understand how their myths motivate their activities and moderate their judgements. After creating artistic and literary expressions of their myths, they allow the myth to speak those beliefs and values which would otherwise remain unspoken. As one examines representative hero myths, the qualities which we value in people are revealed. It can also be argued that American hero myths express our belief in technology with their guns, super cars, wrist radios and bat phones. An American hero’s victory depends both on personal courage and skillful use of technological devices, be it a Colt revolver or a star cruiser.

When Darwin proposed his theory of evolution, he encountered much opposition. Most often this conflict is presented as a debate between Darwinian mythology and that of the book of Genesis. One can also view the arguments as a result of Darwin’s challenge to British and American people’s mythic sense of place at the pinnacle of creation. White males had a position of dominance over creation and over other people which was assumed to be natural and right.

ACTIVITY #1:

Exploration

           1 class period

PROCEDURE:

This is to be done prior to any background or explanation to students. 

1. Seat students in groups of 3-5. Have them first write, as a personal journal entry, a myth with which they are familiar. Those who can think of none may invent a myth of their own.
2. Next, have them share their myth with their group and explain what makes their story a myth. Encourage them to come to grips as a group with a “definition” of myth. 
3. Finally, after presenting some sort of background information, lead a class discussion on the nature and meaning of myth.

ACTIVITY #2:

Application in a Darwinian Context

           1 class period

PROCEDURE:

1. Have students complete a study of Darwin’s theory of Natural Selection, view or read Inherit the Wind, view the film, “Darwin’s Bulldog” (excellent film on Thomas Huxley’s defense of Darwinian theory alone with Samuel Wilberforce’s criticism), or some other presentation on the work of Darwin.
2. Ask students to construct a myth of their role in the world from an understanding of late 19th century British and American attitudes. You might have them consider that slavery was still legal in the United States. Americans were fulfilling their “manifest destiny” by taming all the land between the Mississippi and the Pacific Ocean. The British Empire was reaching its zenith. The Union Jack flew on every continent.
3. Students are to answer the following questions:
   1. How would Darwin’s theory on the Origin of Species challenge or support the British and American mythic view of national destiny?
   2. How might reaction to Darwin’s writing have differed if he had limited his theory to non-Europeans?
   3. While Darwin’s theory is not universally accepted outside scientific circles, it has become woven into much of Western thought. How has his evolutionary theory affected the Western myth of human’s place in nature?

ACTIVITY #3:

Who’s that Hero?

           1-2 class periods

PROCEDURE:

1. Have the students name some of America’s heros and heroines. Briefly explain the meaning of the terms myth and mythic character. Explain how these heros figures play a role in our national myth.
2. List the following hero pairs on the board or use heros suggested by the students:
   Madonna, Dick Tracy, Luke Skywalker, Marilyn Monroe, James Bond, Indiana Jones
3. The students should select a pair of heroes with whom they are familiar. Ask them to list the personal qualities which allowed the hero to be victorious over his opponents. Ask them to comment on the role which technology (weapons, cars, computers, etc) played in the hero story.

   Hint: You may wish to divide the students into groups. Have each group select a favorite movie hero. They may watch the video on their own time and prepare their report outside of class. Comic books may also be used.

4. Allow the students to discuss their reports.
5. If no eighteenth or nineteenth century heroes have been included in the reports, ask the students to name one or two. 
6. Students should answer the following questions:
   1. What qualities do the early heros have in common with contemporary heroes?
   2. How do they differ?
   3. What role does technology play in the older hero story?
   4. What experiences have led the American people to place such a high value on technology?
   5. How might this value effect our decision making on such issues as the Star Wars program, military research and development, etc.
7. Contrast the responses to the above question with the discussion based on the following questions:
   1. What role does technology play in heroine stories?
   2. How do these qualities compare with those of their male counterparts?
   3. What conclusions can be drawn from these reflections on heroines and technology?

ACTIVITY #4:

Technology’s Role in Myths

           30 minutes

PROCEDURE:

1. If technology has become integral to our hero myths it is reasonable to presume that scientists, the creators of technology, have a mythic status. Ask students reflect on the myth of a selected (by teacher or student) scientist by presenting them with the following considerations:
   1. What qualities do they embody?
   2. How might our myth of the scientist effect our view of information presented by scientists? 
   3. How might this effect their role in political debates?
2. This activity may serve as a good start for further research. 

Additional Activity:

Students can research the effect of other modern theories or scientific findings on our myth of man’s place in the universe. Possible topics include relativity, space exploration, theories of ecological balance, etc.

Bibliography

Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces

Campbell, Joseph. The Power of Myth. Doubleday, 1988.

Kipling, Rudyard. Just So Stories. [A delightful collection of myths on the origin of various animal characteristics. The myths are very Lamarckian and free of religious content.]

Kipling, Rudyard. “The White Man’s Burden.”

Lawrence, Jerome. “Inherit the Wind.”

Miller, Jonathan. Darwin for Beginners.