For the Ages

Inspired by Philip K. Dick's own transcendental experiences, I have been recently contemplating the function of folklore and narrative within human societies. The interplay between fact and fiction and their influence on human action and belief has also intrigued me enough to commence research on the topic. Why are folklore and narrative so vitally important to humans, to the point that they would kill and die for intangible fables and legends too polluted by time to be verifiable? To me it is part of emotional and spiritual human identity. It represents the hope and memory of innocence every man yearns for. Ironically, in our attempts to retain and sustain these themes, stories, and traditions humans sometimes sacrifice this innocence to assert the importance, value, and indeterminable truth of folklore. Despite the transparent differences that separate cultures, there are also fundamental similarities between the warring societies that are so desperate to preserve their individuality. This irrationality fascinates and propels me to conduct further research. Historians also place great importance on certain stories that contain little irrefutable facts about human history. For example, historians have used the canonized books of the Bible for centuries in order to understand that era of human existence more fully. However, the Apocrypha is often disregarded by historians, when it possesses as much legitimacy as the canonized texts. Why have these stories been passed down from generation to generation? What role does narrative play in the survival of fittest? These are but some of the questions that have been going through my mind as I endeavor to illuminate this topic. This strange and esoteric relationship between folklore and narrative and human existence has catalyzed my search for more information.