Many of these stories are about very modern things - Pokemon, smartphones, media, celebrity (there's even a nod to terrorism, in the guise of a fable). The stories are simple, but so is the morality: Be true to yourself, look after your loved ones, be wary of greed and fads, stand up to bullies, don't walk alone into the dark forest.
The problem with selecting a partner on the basis of wealth is that wealth, past a certain point, is not very useful to children. Obviously, I would prefer a child to be unloved rather than starve to death, but once you've taken care of the basic essentials, love is the primary thing that a child needs. Maybe Elon thinks he can buy love from others, but his children can never buy love from him.
Really cool essay Katherine :) I think in this era more than any other there is a desire for recognition. Not necessarily in secure relationships, people appear to care less about that, but more a sense of public recognition. Our desire to be seen and heard by others is everywhere. Albeit, many faint under the spotlight.
Thomas Moore, of "Care of the Soul" fame, seems to agree and wrote a book, "Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life." Most fairytales emerged before the current exponential expansion of technology, which is stripping our lives of magic and wonder. The suffocating pragmatism of science and technology has taken the child-like curiosity from the majority of us leaving it to a few professional artists and musicians.
"A culture dedicated to enchantment recognizes our need to live in a world of both facts and holy imagination. It doesn't explain everything away in materialistic terms but understands that wisdom and deep intelligence require an honest appreciation of mystery. It seeks out experiences that quiet our mental ambitions and open a pathway toward some kind of transcendental vision, experiences at swell the heart and stretch the limits of belief and understanding. Enchantment is both a dulling of the mind and a sharpening of perception."
Yes, and the 60’s, 70’s were more enchanting than the 90’s. The trend is obvious. The increase in technology corresponds with a decrease in wonder and raw creativity leaving our souls to starve. https://johnhardman.substack.com/p/megatons-of-technology
The essay’s emphasis on fairy tales is so ironic because they so often end with a beautiful poor girl marrying a wealthy prince or successful man (which is basically what happened with St. Claire, except without the marriage). 😂 The takeaway of many traditional or classical stories isn’t always the value of love. In many of Shakespeare’s stories, there tends to be a cautionary tone about it. So, there are many concepts in fairy tales that aren’t always pro-love. I think we’re currently in a post-love society, especially as parenting and survival becomes harder. The idea that romantic love can be a satisfying conciliation for a life of struggle is fading. In a time of dating apps and gamification, people have become more distrustful of the concept, and would rather take a short cut to long-term security if they can. I don’t know how to feel about it.
I think the fact that our culture is having so much trouble creating compelling stories, despite its unprecedented access to resources and technology and other cultures and history, is very ominous.
I like your observations about the way fairy tales speak to our narrative mind and our moral instincts. I think that many people today would like to pretend such instincts don't exist (or are arbitrary, or illegitimate) but I think it's undeniable that all normal people have them, and they profoundly structure how we view life and the world.
I think the fairly tale with an unobstructed moral is a fairly modern invention (18th / 19th / 20th century). Fairy tales prior to this often had complicated stories and ambiguous or contradictory takeaways.
If I were to distill your point it's that the absence of fairly tales in the modern cultural zeitgeist has led to an erosion of understanding for what's fundamentally vital. Surely then people living before the invention of the modern fairy tale would have lacked this moral compass.
Or perhaps something else took the place of the fairly tale? Religion perhaps?
My son needed fairytales, so I made him some fairytales, told them, and turned them into an illustrated storybook:
https://www.amazon.com/Book-CRAZY-MONSTER-STORIES/dp/1549983539/
Many of these stories are about very modern things - Pokemon, smartphones, media, celebrity (there's even a nod to terrorism, in the guise of a fable). The stories are simple, but so is the morality: Be true to yourself, look after your loved ones, be wary of greed and fads, stand up to bullies, don't walk alone into the dark forest.
i read the uses of enchantmrnt bc of this
The problem with selecting a partner on the basis of wealth is that wealth, past a certain point, is not very useful to children. Obviously, I would prefer a child to be unloved rather than starve to death, but once you've taken care of the basic essentials, love is the primary thing that a child needs. Maybe Elon thinks he can buy love from others, but his children can never buy love from him.
Really cool essay Katherine :) I think in this era more than any other there is a desire for recognition. Not necessarily in secure relationships, people appear to care less about that, but more a sense of public recognition. Our desire to be seen and heard by others is everywhere. Albeit, many faint under the spotlight.
Thomas Moore, of "Care of the Soul" fame, seems to agree and wrote a book, "Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life." Most fairytales emerged before the current exponential expansion of technology, which is stripping our lives of magic and wonder. The suffocating pragmatism of science and technology has taken the child-like curiosity from the majority of us leaving it to a few professional artists and musicians.
"A culture dedicated to enchantment recognizes our need to live in a world of both facts and holy imagination. It doesn't explain everything away in materialistic terms but understands that wisdom and deep intelligence require an honest appreciation of mystery. It seeks out experiences that quiet our mental ambitions and open a pathway toward some kind of transcendental vision, experiences at swell the heart and stretch the limits of belief and understanding. Enchantment is both a dulling of the mind and a sharpening of perception."
https://www.amazon.com/Re-enchantment-Everyday-Life-Thomas-Moore/dp/0060928247
I think I disagree that tech intrinsically disenchants. The '90s were very "enchanted" compared to today, for example.
Yes, and the 60’s, 70’s were more enchanting than the 90’s. The trend is obvious. The increase in technology corresponds with a decrease in wonder and raw creativity leaving our souls to starve. https://johnhardman.substack.com/p/megatons-of-technology
Love Anora as a fairy tale. It was also a bit of a porno, so I killed 2 birds with one stone that night.
I thought gossip was how we conveyed morals, and fairy tales were how we conveyed warnings, and historically didn't have happy endings.
Gee, the message I got from fairy tales was "Marry a rich man."
The essay’s emphasis on fairy tales is so ironic because they so often end with a beautiful poor girl marrying a wealthy prince or successful man (which is basically what happened with St. Claire, except without the marriage). 😂 The takeaway of many traditional or classical stories isn’t always the value of love. In many of Shakespeare’s stories, there tends to be a cautionary tone about it. So, there are many concepts in fairy tales that aren’t always pro-love. I think we’re currently in a post-love society, especially as parenting and survival becomes harder. The idea that romantic love can be a satisfying conciliation for a life of struggle is fading. In a time of dating apps and gamification, people have become more distrustful of the concept, and would rather take a short cut to long-term security if they can. I don’t know how to feel about it.
I think the fact that our culture is having so much trouble creating compelling stories, despite its unprecedented access to resources and technology and other cultures and history, is very ominous.
I like your observations about the way fairy tales speak to our narrative mind and our moral instincts. I think that many people today would like to pretend such instincts don't exist (or are arbitrary, or illegitimate) but I think it's undeniable that all normal people have them, and they profoundly structure how we view life and the world.
https://jmpolemic.substack.com/p/mermaids-princesses-and-other-politically
I think the fairly tale with an unobstructed moral is a fairly modern invention (18th / 19th / 20th century). Fairy tales prior to this often had complicated stories and ambiguous or contradictory takeaways.
If I were to distill your point it's that the absence of fairly tales in the modern cultural zeitgeist has led to an erosion of understanding for what's fundamentally vital. Surely then people living before the invention of the modern fairy tale would have lacked this moral compass.
Or perhaps something else took the place of the fairly tale? Religion perhaps?
I’ve been thinking on this, too. I’ve started repackaging my old Dating blog (true stories) to try and let people day dream and believe in fairytales again. Here’s the link: https://open.substack.com/pub/liveyourownfairytale/p/coming-soon?r=268b51&utm_medium=ios
Definitely a different tone than my political blog, but I feel it’s just as needed