The Mythology of Information Overload

Thus, according to this classic source, while myth and folklore serve similar functions, myth does not exist without reference to a higher power.

Funk and Wagnall's and Thompson (1977) agree on the significance of the divine in myth. They also agree on the link between myth and folklore, but Thompson more clearly acknowledges the difficulty in distinguishing myth from other folkloristic structures. He states:

   of all the words used to distinguish the classes of prose narrative, myth
   is the most confusing. The difficulty is that it has been discussed too
   long and that it has been used in too many different senses. The history of
   such discussion is interesting but inconclusive. As used in this book myth
   will be taken to mean a tale laid in a world supposed to have preceded the
   present order. It tells of sacred beings and of semi-divine heroes and of
   the origins of all things, usually through the agency of those sacred
   beings. Myths are intimately connected with religious beliefs and practices
   of the people. (p. 9)

Thompson invokes Boas's (1940) "final words of wisdom" to reinforce similarity of myth and folklore. "The data show a continual flow of material from mythology to folk-tale and vice-versa, and that neither group can claim priority" (p. 405).

Thompson also discusses the function of mythic narrative and problems and questions attendant to its definition, indicating that humans have, and continue to use, myth to process experience. He highlights Boas's observations about the origins of myth, stressing that mythologies did not begin with the simple observation of natural phenomena. Boas argues that the interplay of human imagination, emotion, and everyday occurrences is inherent in the process of myth. He also recognizes the importance of understanding how connections between past and present provide context for myth-making and states, "[w]e have no reason to believe that the myth-making processes of the last ten thousand years differed materially from modern myth-making processes" (Boas, 1940, p. 406). What is most interesting and useful for purposes of this discussion is that both Thompson and Boas advocate a notion of the historicity of myth and its longstanding ability to help relate supernatural forces to everyday existence.

Other scholars whose work is relevant to understanding myth, including Dorson (1972) and Levi-Strauss (1966), identify additional specific roles for myth in culture. Dorson says that--along with riddles, satirical songs, and tales--myth reinforces custom and taboo, releases aggression, and governs behavior by validating conduct. He also discusses the relationship of myth to a long-standing psychoanalytic tradition of dream interpretation, significant for discovery of subconscious links to the universal (p. 21). Dorson reviews various ways of looking at myth and folklore and introduces the work of Levi-Strauss and Propp in developing theories that assist in translating folklore genres into universal structural models and formulas (pp. 35-36).