"Story"

lobb152

There is an idea. The more we remove ourselves from religion and spirituality the more we remove ourselves from myth. The more we embrace science the more our lives becomes a series of events punctuated by cold facts and numbers. We become binary code; a series of zeros and ones. With the human being removed from the equation we have removed the fabric of storytelling. We have taken away imagination and removed experience. In short we have forgotten how to tell our stories.

This idea has been used to explain another phenomenon; why does the mind crack. Mental illness. Specifically, things like dementia and Alzheimer’s. Illnesses that degrade the mind. Illnesses that affect our elders. In societies where storytelling is valued the elders are valued. They pass down the stories of their people and culture. They are the keepers of the legacy. In American society storytelling is becoming a lost art. We do not value the elderly as other cultures do. What happens to a hard drive as it becomes obsolete. It degrades and we simply throw it away as it no longer has a purpose. All that wisdom lost.

rollings

I like this story

Aafke

I do like the story but i don't agree on the point where you blame mental illnesses on the lack of respect for the elderly or their story's. I've worked with these kind of people and although listening to them is helpful for giving them back a bit of their self awareness and self esteem. The illness is still progressing. Also in more verbal societies this kind off illnesses also occur. Keeping the mind alive and active is good for all human beings, but it can't prevent mental illnesses entirely.