Reply #51: Cargo cults

[starroute]

Back in the 50's, people used to laugh at all the ignorant New Guineans or Pacific islanders who had started a cult of building replica airplanes after World War II, in the hope that it would bring them the materials goods and benefits of Western Civilization.

The funny thing is, it turns out that the groups who did that have adapted far more smoothly to the actual onslaught of Western culture than the groups who held to their more traditional belief systems.

In a somewhat similar way, it's been suggested that fundamentalist religion has the greatest appeal to people who are in the process of leaving their rural and small-town roots and being thrust into the fast-paced and impersonal context of modern society.

In both cases, religion is helping people adapt to change. Apocalyptic religion, in particular, may be a way of easing people through radical disruptions in their own lives. It provides a mirror for what is happening to them. It tells them: "Change is not anything to fear. You can leave behind everything you know, down to the clothes on your back, and you will be far better off as a result."

Science can only tell us about where we are and where we've been. But science fiction and fantasy and myth can tell us about where we're going -- and about how to behave when we get there.