Lost & Found

We’re further from a 21st century mythos than ever

I set myself the quixotic task of finding a new mythos for the 21st century back in the early days of Covid. At first that search was the thesis of my course Writing the 21st Century Myth, then the Science Fiction podcast, then the channel.

And we’re further away than ever from an answer.

Science fiction proposed a new mythos that actually worked for a while. Let’s call it the Star Trek future. The space race was going to keep on going and humans would eventually zzzzap around the stars in warp drive starships.

But as science has invalidated this possibility humanity has been left as a global civilisation with no shared story. And this is deranging us.

We’ve been talking a lot about oligarchy and the billionaire class, with good reason. But I’m writing this to suggest we spare a thought for our elites.

Because they are the most deranged by the lack of a mythos.

Look at figures like Elon Musk and Peter Thiel and many other billionaire elites, and you see people who are as lost as anyone else. But who are in a position to make decisions about the future.

And in the absence of a future mythos, they are resorting to the past. If there is no vision for a future, then the future will have to be some version of the past. Which is how we end up at fascism.

Elon is still shooting off his vanity rockets, but I think only the most naive people believe that Mars or the Star Trek future are still on the agenda. But with no other compelling options, the Hail Mary of Mars still has PR value.

But Thiel seems to be the major force behind the new facism. Total population control via his Palantir surveillance software. He recently began talking about “revenge” against Woke people…

Without a better future it’s the reactionary vision of men like Thiel that will win out.

So I’m continuing my search for a 21st century mythos. We’re further than ever from having one. But by definition things are always most lost

the moment before they are found