From: Alex Ferguson (alex@dcs.gla.ac.uk)
Date: Sun 15 May 1994 - 18:37:16 EEST
> Re: Epistemology Corner
> Alex Ferguson asks, "But are _mythic_ events necessarily
> (objectively, factually) real, or could the heroplane itself
> contain, not just different interpretations of "the same events",
> but quite different, independant, even contradictory mythic
> events?"
> I find this quite humorous. You are asking, "But which is the
> REAL myth?"
I'm talking here about the nature of the _Heroplane_. That is, assuming it has an "objective" existance, can it contain different "realities"? In my model, different outcomes to Mythic Events, and/or different ways of travelling between them. That my model explicitly allows for such things might be construed as a hint.
It's hard to make a direct comparison with earthly myths, since you have to do all the messy business of "identifying" the protagonists first of all, before you even start discussing whether the myths agree.
> (itself a fairly amusing question) and then assuming
> that if there are contradictory myths, they cannot be true.
Absolutely not. You seem to think that my question was posed so as to suggest a negative answer. Personally, I think the HP _does_ embody different `truths', but others have disagreed with this idea before (Joerg, I believe), and I was hoping for reasoned comment on the subject.
> Survey says--<buzzer>. In my Glorantha, at least, the
> contradictory myths in, frex, GoG are all perfectly true. I
> think this accords best with the way Glorantha has been
> presented. After all, the GodLearner attempt to construct a
> monomyth to explain everything and rationalize all differences
> was a mistake.
All the `contradictory' myths is GoG _are_ (part of) the God Learner attempt to reconcile them. GoG is, all things considered, about the most God Learnerish book in existance. If one took it as being precisely true, you'd get a fairly nice, neat heroplane (at least under the model I suggested). If you took the _original_ myths, and tried to make them "agree", you'd have much the same problem as on Earth (are the Emperor and Yelm "really" the same entity?) which the GLers decided to "solve".
> Re: peace between Air and Fire
> Uh, I think you ignored the point Peter made.
No, I disagreed with it, cum questioned its relevance. Peter said "What if there were a mythic `truce' or mutual understanding between Solar and Storm worshipers?" (pardon my paraphrase, Peter). I said "There is".
Alex.
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