Okay... this is really my diary of thoughts about how myths change. Kuhn wrote about scientific revolutions, and science is a weltanschung, a world view, a myth; a set of beliefs about how the world and life are constructed and operate. Science, as one example of a new myth being introduced to humans, did not happen overnight. It did not spring fully formed from the head of Zeus, another example of a new myth, the Olympians displacing the Titans, the Elder gods. And when did religion per se appear in our history. These myths took over some of the beliefs of humans, but in general, the takeover seems never to be complete. Even now, we still teach Newtonian physics before we learn about Einstein's relativistic physics and the quantum physics that complemented or overtook that.
One thesis I will explore is that the creation of numerals and of writing shook our view of ourselves, that these creations were necessary for the construction and management of cities and states. More, they made humans into demigods, creators of an unbelievable advance in technology. Moreover, numerals and writing shifted the qualifications as leaders from good hunters and fighters to people who could understand the secrets of writing...
so it begins.
