This is how I feel about air travel. If you are a safe and defensive driver and you happen to get in a wreck, you're very likely to survive if you are wearing your seatbelt (and the airbags function). Plane falls from sky, you're pretty much effed.
As someone who nearly drowned a summer ago, if you do get on that boat/kayak/raft/look at water, make sure you are wearing a life jacket and have a whistle. Those things helped save my life, forever grateful to the people who rowed out to me.
The horrible dragons and monsters live far away from here. They must, because we don't see any here. Sometimes when people go on rafts, we never see them again. If they go far enough, they may arrive at these scary, dangerous places we imagine. I think I shall sing a song about this tonight
It's a rule that I live by. Just avoid large bodies of water altogether. Absolutely no beaches. The ocean is a slurry of death and poop filled with things from microscopic to the leviathan-esque that want to kill and eat us. If we're lucky in that order. And I'm not fond of sand and sunburn.
That’s interesting because in Ireland we have “Imram” voyage mythology. Like the voyage of Brendan. Because we’re an island nation. Our boat mythology is usually inspiring and happy
Rosencrantz: Do you think Death could possibly be a boat?
Guildenstern: No, no, no. Death is not. Death isn't. Take my meaning? Death is the ultimate negative. Not-being. You can't not be on a boat.
Rosencrantz: I've frequently not been on boats
Guildenstern: No, no, what you've been is not on boats
Between 10% and 30% shipwreck in the ocean and even if the ship didn't wreck, 90% of people didn't know how to swim. No showers, no disinfectants, no refrigeration. So yeah. A recipe for disaster however you looked at it.
In high school a teacher made a big deal out of the fact that every civilization had a story about the great flood. So it must have happened, right? I knew that was wrong, but I didn't know why at the time.
Years later when a coworker conspiracy theorist brought up the same idea, I was ready (1/2)
"Yeah, of course every civilization had a story about a devastating flood. Every civilization lived near water. Not every civilization lived near a volcano or a fault line, but you can't build a big society without agriculture."
He just stared at me for a second and then said, "Oh, okay."
I mean, all forms of travel are dangerous. So having a common theme of “Boats are dangerous” isn’t too shocking
Boats come with sinking and drowning risks. Flights and cars come with crashing risks. You could fall off a horse and break a bone. If you walk, you could step on a Lego.
You guys are scaring me. I have been saving to go visit family at the end of April and I have to fly! I’m already worried with all the plane disasters. 😢
I suggest you look at the reporting from Paris Marx and other Canadian tech reporters. Shopify has changed their terms of service to remove bans on hate products.
Yep, the time when company did something because it fulfilled an abstract idea of goodness are over. Don't Be Evil is a things from the past. And we should keep that in mind when setting the rules and not leave it to them, as they have proven they don't care.
Horror is my current focus. Lots of mythical themes there. It also distracts from the horror of reality. A supernatural unseen nemesis is about the only thing that trumps the moment-to-moment nightmare. Not 100% sure though. Just not sure.
I mean, this makes sense. It's like other superstitions and fairy tales. Don't go into the woods, don't walk under ladders, don't talk to strangers, and don't get on boats.
I mean, kinda. Conservative perspectives on mythology. Think about the end of the Wizard of Oz. She had a crazy adventure, and instead of continuing the adventure, she just goes home. The lesson was: stay home.
I mean it is still good advice today. If you are knowledgeable you are safer, but the sea and lakes are fickle mistresses, and dangerous at the best of times.
Rereading Robinson Crusoe as an adult, it's surpassing how much of the book's beginning is just this. His big personal revelation is "sorry I got on a boat, God"
I actually do think there's an answer to this. We evolved in the African savannah and the main dangers we faced in the wild would have been venomous snakes and big cats. I think fear and distrust towards both are as a result baked into our instincts to the point that we still add them to folklore
A friend of mine used to say that mean people just don't have a hobby. They need to just get a hobby. If they had a hobby they wouldn't be mean. It's kind of a simplistic idea but he wasn't wrong.
Tootles... Wade IMissClarence
x100, you're in a can with unlimited merciless death right outside that stretches to possibly infinity. Inside is the only place where you'll be able to live. You depend on chemical processes for breathable air and propulsion and whatever food you bring. Distances are lightyears so bring a book
Flying is wonderful, you're just too much of a cheapskate to pay what it costs.
So am I, mind. But economy fare is nowhere close to what it costs to buy and maintain a $100m dollar aircraft, hire pilots and crew, pay fees, taxes, ATC, and tonnes of fuel. No wonder they have to pack them in.
Some estimates of deep-water ancient Mediterranean ship travel suggest a 1/6 shipwreck rate, which is the kind of risk that would cause me to abandon that mode of travel entirely!
This made me realize how much the geography can affect the mythology. Hindu myth mostly has rivers but barely talks about sea voyages. One time they talk about sea, they use stones to cross it.
Oh! So they could use a merchant ship but that would pause important business for personal gains. Hmmm... Someone could learn a thing or two from Ram...
The problem is our knowledge of the mythologies is restricted to BR Chopra and Ramanad Sagar, we hardly ever read the mythologies ourselves, instead we depend on the slop presented by entertainment industry or pop writers.
The legend of the Argonauts is the story of a bunch of colorful characters on a boat travelling to a series of wacky islands, making it the classical Greek One Piece.
This is interesting because in Irish mythology, being on the rough Atlantic, the sea is almost just seen as an impassable boundary other than for god-like beings. Tír na nÓg is across the sea but only accessible by Niamh Chinn Óir's horse that can walk on water.
Hy-Brasil is a mythological island that appears randomly across the sea out of reach. The Tuatha de Danann sailed from the Northern sea, and the malevolent Fermorians too came from the seas.
Fun Fact at no point in the Odyssey, which takes place entirely on the water, do they menthon the colour blue, instead calling it wine-dark - because ancient peoples didn’t have a word for it and categorised colors differently
What're your sources? In classics this idea has been out of favor for a while, mainly because it tends to come alongside the idea that the ancients literally could not see blue
I’m not gonna get out my books now (might respond later, it’s 11:58pm here) but I’m 100% defiantly absolutely NOT saying that they could not see blue. I know about the myth tho.
It is a genuinely interesting theory, but requires interpreting one poem very literally, when we wouldn't take "tiny dancer" as proof that 20th century women were two feet tall
Well yes, there are many different ancient cultures. Egyptians for instance had Irtiu. And I’m not denying Homer was a poet either (don’t know where u might have gotten that)
One of the last colors that ancient cultures tend to categories is blue . They generally manage red and yellow first
“If you hear something interesting in the woods, no you didn’t” and “never trick the trickster” are also pretty popular. Oh, and “islands are unknowable magical places” fits right in opposition with yours.
I've never gotten on a boat without absolutely loving the experience. As a species we 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 to get out over the water sometimes. It connects us to the globe we're floating on and brings us peace.
It makes sense. The Mediterranean sea was the heart of civilization in that area and time. Sea travel was valuable and dangerous.
Sea travel then was seasonal as well. You just wouldn't make certain trips at certain times. I'm looking at it like I us in space. Our myths are about how hard space is
Tbf every culture with a sea access kept having people head off on boats and never return to the point places like the UK had specific burial practices for people lost at sea via ritualistic model burials
… or get on/in a boat and go seek (fish, land, people, goods)… it is the ultimate, original human vehicle after our feet. Foundational trade, travel, commuting and exploring tool. But the water entrances and terrifies us simultaneously. Hence the myth part.
“And now I know we must lift the sail and catch the winds of destiny wherever they drive the boat…A life without meaning is the torture of restlessness and vague desire. It is a boat longing for the sea and yet afraid.”-Spoon River Anthology
Comments
And. Yeah.
that no one puts their children in a boat
unless the water is safer than the land"
- Warsan Shire, "Home"
It really shows how terribly dangerous sea voyages were, even relatively recently.
And even rivers are dangerous! Frodo's parents went foolin' aroun with boats on the Brandywine and were drownded.
Guildenstern: No, no, no. Death is not. Death isn't. Take my meaning? Death is the ultimate negative. Not-being. You can't not be on a boat.
Rosencrantz: I've frequently not been on boats
Guildenstern: No, no, what you've been is not on boats
You can't not-be on a boat.
Gently down the stream
Merrily merrily merrily merrily
Life is but a dream
I can see it's philosophical, I can spell philosophical, but that's about it right now...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(2024_film)
Who?
Of course various animals migrated by floating branches etc but were they sailing?
A boat is just a hole in the water into which you pour money.
Of course sailors had the superstition that it was unlucky to learn. It would only keep you alive for a short before you’d get hypothermia.
Years later when a coworker conspiracy theorist brought up the same idea, I was ready (1/2)
He just stared at me for a second and then said, "Oh, okay."
(2/2)
Boats come with sinking and drowning risks. Flights and cars come with crashing risks. You could fall off a horse and break a bone. If you walk, you could step on a Lego.
So many risks.
Might as well go out splashy🤓
L. Ron Hubbard bombed Mexico.
Some family members went missing , etc.
And now most do.
Tootles... Wade IMissClarence
"Unfortunately, Zeus was feeling horny."
So am I, mind. But economy fare is nowhere close to what it costs to buy and maintain a $100m dollar aircraft, hire pilots and crew, pay fees, taxes, ATC, and tonnes of fuel. No wonder they have to pack them in.
But a surprising number of them survive, after being thought dead.
"Why can't you learn to keep your fat mouth shut?!"
Rome, season 1, Episode 6
“YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND,
THAT NO ONE PUTS THEIR CHILDREN IN A BOAT
UNLESS THE WATER IS SAFER THAN LAND...”
- Warsan Shire
So, we don't see lots of boats because expensive. There was no necessity so no innovation?
a conspiracy I tell ya, a mean conspiracy...
One of the last colors that ancient cultures tend to categories is blue . They generally manage red and yellow first
It doesn’t matter of size how much can just share🇺🇦🇺🇦🙏🙏
Send your small gift for the Ukrainian via our Govt. Official site https://u24.gov.ua/ or crypto wallet below.
"Never get out of the boat. Absolutely goddamn right. Unless you were going all the way."
Sea travel then was seasonal as well. You just wouldn't make certain trips at certain times. I'm looking at it like I us in space. Our myths are about how hard space is
Utnapishtim - Noah's precursor.
Also, don't piss off Poseidon.
Jason & the argonauts?
The rime of the ancient mariner?
Poseidon had adventures!
Ra journeyed through the sky & the Duat, like a boss.
If Charon offers you a ride across the river Acheron, where else are you going to go?
People love water. Historically grew up next to water. Knew what was in the water. Knew how to swim. 🤷🏼♂️
https://youtu.be/_4dFDBYWuTc?si=bEE-gEtpbtdQYUPd