The lack of objective references for subjective questions and unconscious distress favors the use of myths to explain the incognoscible reality.
Individuals initially form social hordes, the protoplasmic social order after which they come together in clans which, in turn, morph into even more complex social units such as kingdoms, nations and companies. In the path of this evolutive process, religions, for example, are quick to present their dogmatic and “sacred” visions to the transcendental questions of their followers. In addition, kingdoms, nations and companies also develop “cosmological” narratives.
Thus, the cosmology of a social group is always doubtlessly a reflection of its culture and the historical moment when it was conceived and refined. It is for no other reason then that, according to some scholars, Genesis draws incredible parallels with the Enuma Elish, the myth of Babylonian creation in which the Flood and the Tower of Babel already existed. By the way, it is important to emphasize that to many historians the Jewish text was written between the III B.C. and the XVII B.C. centuries during which Jerusalem and Judah were under Babylonian domain, under the aegis of king Nabucodonosor.
It is for no other reason that the sun and water, essentials for agriculture, had also always occupied a special place in mythologies of old civilizations for thousand of years. Based on this reference, the Theogony of the poet Hesiod presented the genealogy of the gods, Titans, Cyclopes and Hecatonchires, logically then positioning human behavior as a hereditary reflection of this pantheon of deities.
It is also important to point out that cosmology, in addition to explaining the origin of the world, played a fundamental role in justifying social structures. Thus, in the Hindu tradition, according to Vedic manuscripts, there are three deities responsible for the cycles of creation and destruction of the Universe: Brahma creates, Vishnu preserves, and Shiva destroys so that the cycle can recommence.
Finally, the myth has especially become a political instrument for social cohesion, by describing the creation of the world and mankind by the god Brahma. He generated two gods - Gayatri and Purusha, the cosmic man from whom many things have been created. So, while some men were born from the mouth of Purusha and became priests, others were born from his feet and became slaves.
Thus, going beyond the psychological perspective of Carl Jung of myths as being the collective unconscious expression for archetypes of the soul, I bow here to the vision of Mircea Eliade whereby there is not necessarily any conflict between myth and logic. On the contrary, humanity’s collective construction of a common identity involves the unequivocal combination of rational and semiotic elements.
Really understanding this duality is still a challenging task for many managers.
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Daniel Augusto Motta, PhD, MSc
Founder & CEO BMI Blue Management Institute
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