Thursday, September 15, 2022

A Fenny Snake

So. Let’s see if we’ve got this—
Humans like sweeping, simple
Explanations delivered

In easily remembered
Stories that offer hope and
Make psychological sense.

However, stories themselves,
Appealing as they may be,
Can’t win over everyone,

As humans prioritize
Their own social groups, and groups
Grow to compete ruthlessly

With other such growing groups.
Loyalty to group stories
Can determine belonging

Of any kind, survival
And security. Stories
Ebb and flow with the status

Of the groups espousing them
And retelling them, often
As proxies for the success

Or collapse of groups themselves.
Given that, we should expect
A bubbling cauldron of tales,

With a few especially
Simplistic and appealing
Variants dominating

The mixture at any time.
Irritants and convection
Precipitate inventions,

Factual discoveries,
And novel technologies
As byproducts, solutions

That accumulate and sink
In gathering sediments
At the bottom of the pot.

Does that sound roughly correct?
Can your stories serve it up
Or must they all boil over?

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