The World's Best Book Summaries
What are the functions of myths, according to Joseph Campbell in The Hero with a Thousand Faces? Do myths have a place in our society today? We’ll cover the various functions of myths and why myths are so important, in the past and today.
Immortality is a tempting vision. Can humans live forever? If not now, will humans ever be able to live forever? And what new challenges could immortality present us with? We’ll cover the science moving humans closer to immortality and the potential problems of being able to live forever.
In The Art of War, Sun Tzu says, “Move swift as the wind and closely-formed as the wood. Attack like the fire and be still as the mountain.” How can you use the example of nature to help you be victorious in battle? We’ll cover Tzu’s advice, such as to be swift as the wind, on how to understand the environment and imitate it to gain the advantage in battle.
In The Art of War, Sun Tzu says, “The greatest victory is that which requires no battle.” Why is this the greatest victory? How can you be victorious over your enemy if there’s no battle? We’ll cover how preemptive strikes are the key to the best kind of victory and why the easy victory is actually the greatest victory.
What is stage 8 of Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey? What is the significance of the “woman as temptress”? The woman as temptress is the stage of the hero’s journey in which the hero is tempted by a “bad” mother figure, a goddess who attempts to either harm the hero, spurn his advances, hamper him in his quest, or tempt him into desire. The woman as temptress is stage 8 of Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey, from The Hero with a Thousand Faces. We’ll cover what the woman as temptress entails and look at an example of a hero encountering the woman
What is the cosmogonic cycle? What role does it play in Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey? The cosmogonic cycle is the origin story of the universe, and the means by which it will be destroyed and rebuilt. In The Hero with a Thousdand Faces, Campbell refers to the cosmogonic cycle as a macrocosm of our wake-sleep cycle. Learn the role of the cosmogonic cycle in the hero’s journey, with examples from Jain and Hindu creation stories.
What is the future of Homo sapiens? What might future human evolution look like? Future human evolution will probably go in one of three directions: biological engineering, cyborg engineering, or inorganic life engineering. Each comes with its own advantages and potential problems. We’ll look at each in turn and discuss the possibilities of the future evolution of man and how we are evolving.
What is stage 12 of Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey? What is the significance of the “refusal to return”? The refusal to return is the stage of the hero’s journey in which the hero refuses their duty to return home and bestow their newfound wisdom upon the rest of humanity. The refusal of the return is stage 12 of Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey, from The Hero with a Thousand Faces. We’ll cover what the refusal to return entails and look at an example of the refusal-to-return stage of the hero’s journey.
Some say capitalism is failing. Is it? How can we tell? Is there anything we can do about it? Capitalists have reason to champion the system. It’s spurred economic, scientific, and imperial growth the way few other imagined realities have. But what happens in situations when it fails to work? We’ll cover two critiques of capitalism that say that capitalism has failed.
What is a culture hero? What do culture heroes have to do with Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey? A culture hero is a founder who appears at the beginning of a culture’s legendary past. Culture heroes often help found that culture’s universe and change the course of history. We’ll cover the concept of the culture hero and look at examples of culture heroes in Native American, French, and Chinese traditions.