Similar to the curse of the Pyramids of Egypt, a myth/belief of ray-cats was developed in the 1980s to keep people away from nuclear waste repositories. If people in the future(10 thousand years later) see a glowing cat, they’ll know to back off from that place, therefore backing away from the nuclear repository and avoiding radioactivity.
By instilling a sense of fear or reverence around the waste site through superstition or religious beliefs, the priesthood aims to deter future populations from approaching the danger.
By telling a story, by instilling a belief in its audience, experts of this project managed to keep people away from possible danger.
Hadestown is a beloved show of mine that I had rewatched thrice. It combines Greek Mythology with current problems in modern society like famine and poverty, using Hell(Hadestown) as an analogy for cheap labor in factories.
Hermes, as the narrator of this story, enters in and out of the narrative of Hadestown. Orpheus also plays the role as narrator when he sang the ancient tale of Hades and Persephone. We, as the audience, see three layers of reality onstage. Hermes’s narrative, Orpheus’ narrative(in one scene), and Hades and Persephone’s narrative.
The picture above is a paragraph from the pamphlet of Hadestown.
This story contains overlapping narratives about different people editing a real incident and turning them into a piece of news on the media for their own benefits.
nYE
One man’s dream of the NHS
From campaigning at the coalfield to leading the battle to create the NHS, Aneurin ‘Nye’ Bevan is often referred to as the politician with greatest influence on our country without ever being Prime Minister.
Confronted with death, Nye’s deepest memories lead him on a mind-bending journey back through his life; from childhood to mining underground, Parliament and fights with Churchill in an epic Welsh fantasia.
Michael Sheen (Under Milk Wood) is Nye Bevan in this surreal and spectacular journey through the life and legacy of the man who transformed Britain’s welfare state. It’s written by Tim Price (Teh Internet is Serious Business) and directed by Rufus Norris (Small Island).
In the story, Puddleglum would believe in Aslan and the world he came from even if he’s in a world where neither is real.
Puddleglum’s words were the “Ontological Proof” in a form suitable for kids.
An example of Ontological Proof from from Ontological Proofs Today by Miroslaw Szatkowski:
Fantasy creates belief in its audience. It inspires change for different individuals.
3 septembers and a january(the sandman)
This story comes from the Sandman, and is a very inspiring tale about the story of how believing in a fantasy can change a person’s actions. I regard this story as secondary research because it has a true background story.
Joshua Abraham Norton, a resident of San Francisco, arrived in 1849 and thrived as a businessman. However, a failed attempt to monopolize the rice market led to financial ruin. In 1859, following this misfortune, Norton declared himself “Emperor of the United States.”
Despite lacking official power, San Francisco embraced Emperor Norton’s eccentricity. He received courtesies like free travel and meals, and even his self-proclaimed currency held value in some shops. While some viewed him as odd, others found amusement in his pronouncements and enjoyed his presence.
Emperor Norton’s reign may have been unofficial, but his impact was real. He became a beloved local figure, immortalized in the works of literary giants like Mark Twain and Robert Louis Stevenson. His story serves as a reminder of San Francisco’s unique character and its embrace of the unconventional.
