Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with myths

Which comic strip character told me that dragonflies sew lips shut?

IvyMike — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:00:12 -0800

There's an old wives tale that dragonflies can sew your lips shut. My question is: which comic character told me about this? I know I read about the dragonfly-lip thing in a comic strip somewhere. In fact, I would guess it was Linus van Pelt. But I can't find any evidence of this on the internet. Can you either vouch for me, or correct my memory?

Are there any traditional positive menstruation myths or customs?

xetere — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 07:18:52 -0800

Are there any *traditional* positive menstruation myths or customs? Traditionally, menstruation was the 'curse" and menstruating women were unclean. Jewish women have to go to a mikveh and having sex with a menstruating women is unclean in both Judaism and Islam. I really can't think of a positive ritual or myth about it.

Are there any traditional myths or customs regarding menstruation that are positive? Sort of like;

'the so-and-so tribe recruit menstruating women to go into the fields and squat so that their fertility is imparted to the crops.' or

' the clan leader of the yadda-yaddas, upon learning of their daughters menarche, slaughter a goat and invite the entire village to a feast.'

I realize that many modern and progressive people have instituted positive rituals. This is great and while not disparaging them, I am more interested in traditional folk, or religious myths and rituals, from any culture and any religion.

Can't seem to Google up anything, but perhaps some anthropologists can help?

Apotheosis fiction

ninazer0 — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 02:24:50 -0800

Fiction Filter: Help me find stories involving apotheosis (glorification of an individual as divine). Books or movies - it doesn't matter. As well as fiction where one of the main characters is worshipped as or assumes the position of a god, I'd also probably include those stories where the character receives or develops god-like powers or abilities.

Examples I've already collected would be Paul Atreides from the Dune books by Frank Herbert or the book "Expecting Someone Taller" by Tom Robb (where, by virtue of the Tarnhelm and Ring, pretty much becomes the accidental Master of the Universe, much to Wotans dismay).

Can anyone think of any others? (I know at least one more is out there - trouble is I only read it once about 20 years ago and can't recall much about it).

How to argue against nationalism

omnigut — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 21:38:38 -0800

HistoryFilter: What popular historical myths are there about Portuguese and English History? My friends (one American and one Portuguese) get very riled when I talk about aspects of their histories that aren't positive. Today, I talked about how America had probably been "discovered" many times before Columbus, since the first people (now called Native Americans) had come here. I also mentioned that I'd heard The Chinese and Arabs may have been the first around the Cape of Good Hope.

They told me, in no particular order, that optimistic and/or inspiring history is best to learn as it motivates people, that young people cannot handle grey areas and violence, that poor and uneducated people need to be "protected" from the truth (seriously, they said that), and that these myths were popular because people wanted them to be true. Regardless of my attempts to argue against these points, one thing is clear; I don't know enough about Portuguese popular myths, and would love links to or mentions of information regarding them, if you could please help me out. I have enough info on American myths (Thanksgiving and Plymouth Rock, for example), but to not sound attacking, I feel I should also have some English/British myths (where I'm from) in my arsenal.

Please, does anyone have any suggestions?

The microwave gave me superhuman powers

carpyful — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 08:28:48 -0800

What are some words of wisdom your parents have told you that you've never really checked the validity of (and probably aren't true)? IE: "Going out with wet hair will give you a cold," "cell phones release dangerous amounts of radiation" "eating right before you sleep makes you fat," etc. This is for a class assignment. Basically, I need some examples of myths commonly given by parents that we take for granted as true but never really bother to check.

I'd prefer myths that are believable, not things like "the easter bunny is real".

But throw everything you can at me.

Old west Mythbusters

asavage — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 18:53:14 -0800

Mythbusting Question: can you help me find inspiration in the old west? MeFi's own Adam Savage here. I'm tasked with busting some "Old West" myths. And we're light in the idea department on this one.
Now we've already done a whole bunch of sharpshooting myths, and gunslinger myths, and they still want more!
I'm asking the hive mind: are there any myths you can think of regarding cowboys or indians or anything to do with the old west. (cue black humor about the donner party etc.)

All suggestions taken seriously. Mostly.

Raw material for understanding subconcious and emotional undercurrents in situations

beatrice — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 09:59:59 -0800

The terrain of the subconscious. The stories we tell ourselves. Book recommendations to better pick out and respond to the undercurrents of situations. Maybe books on archetypes, folklore, symbols, fantasy. Maybe just books with strong character development. I've been reading pop psychology and business inspiration. (Who did move my cheese?) Great and all, but there has got to be more to life than knowing your bottom line and communicating it clearly. I mean, what truly motivates people? What are these subconcious drives driving me? I need an infusion of new ideas.

Looking at some of the patterned ways I see situations and react, I've started to realize that I have this sort of persona, there's a certain persona I always fall for, there's someone I'm trying to prove I'm not, etc. I can discern some of the easy patterns just by reading cognitive psychology (a la the Feeling Good Handbook). But it's more than just single recurring thoughts. It's a whole complex of ideas. In ways, I've gotten more insight by reading novels with strong character development. Learning how others see things, feeling what it's like inside others' lives and minds.

So I am looking for book recommendations, from non-fiction books that explicitly explain things like archetypes, to compilations of folklore, to great novels... Books that are complex and textured enough to serve as raw material for understanding myself and others, seeing the deeper dynamics in situations, etc.

All other tips, beyond book recommendations, are also welcome.

Roman scholar meets dinosaur.

Harry — Tue, 23 May 2006 15:02:01 -0800

Is there any (circumstantial) evidence that ancient people performed 'archeology' or 'paleontology'? Even in ancient times, someone somewhere must have stumbled on the buried remains of dinosaurs or other extinct animals, or even ancient human ancestors.

Is there reason to believe any 'ancient' (Romans, Chinese, etc) or medieval people ever came into contact with any such remains, and tried to make sense of them? Or are there any myths or stories that could have been based on such 'excavations'?

Where can I find out little known traps , puzzles , paradoxes , myths and limitations of economics, beside wading through college textbooks?

studentguru — Fri, 14 Apr 2006 09:27:52 -0800

Where can I find out little known traps , puzzles , paradoxes , myths and limitations of economics, beside wading through college textbooks? I am looking for books and articles etc on little known traps , puzzles , paradoxes, myths and limitations of economics.

They make the task of learning economics more interesting.

I have found a few but please share what you know . Thank you very much.

Economics on Trial: Lies, Myths, and Realities (Hardcover)
by Mark Skousen

Puzzles and Paradoxes in Economics (Paperback)
by Mark Skousen, Kenna C. Taylor

Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought (2 volume set)
AUTHOR: Rothbard, Murray N.

http://www.mises.org/fullstory.aspx?control=1568
Ten Recurring Economic Fallacies, 1774–2004

http://cafehayek.typepad.com/hayek/2005/12/twelve_myths.html
December 21, 2005
Twelve Myths

http://wfhummel.cnchost.com/multipliermyth.html
The Myth of the
Money Multiplier

Many transactions are exduded from measures of national product. Intermediate goods have already been noted. Production within the household—work family members do for which they don't get paid—is exduded. The depletion of resources and the production of "bads"—also find no place in national product.
On the other hand, some things are induded that should not be. For example, in contract dispute cases, private
arbitrators' fees are exduded as intermediate goods, but judges' salaries are induded.
Some such oddities are simply decisions on xi/here to draw debatable lines, some are mistakes that are retained for historical reasons, some are shortcuts taken to make measurement easier.

According to their national
income and product accounts, countries like Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia are relatively rich, 'nth high GDP per worker. But a very large chunk of this wealth in such resource-rich economies arises from the sale of limited and depietable natural resources.
Since 're indude investment in GDP—the increase in the economy's capital stock, its man-made productive resources—shouldn't we count resource depletion as a tor' of disinvestment—a reduction in the economy's stock of naturally occurring productive resources? There is no good reason not to. But it is difficult to measure, so we don't.

The four monetary aggregates do not behave the same. During 1992, for example, M 1—the narrow measure—grew by more than 13%, while M3, the broad measure, grew by less than 1%. As gauged by Ml,monetary policy in 1992 was expansionary: the Federal Reserve's monetary policy was forcing M l to grow rapidly, pushing down interest rates and boosting demand.
But as gauged by total M3, monetary policy in 1992 was contractionary: The Federal Reserve was allowing the supply of M3 to shrink, pushing up interest rates and deepening the 1991-93 recession. Different measures of the money stock say different things about monetary policy.
It is harder to be a monetary economist than it used to be.

I'm myth-taken

FunkyHelix — Sun, 09 Apr 2006 14:45:57 -0800

I seem to have my goddesses and creatures mixed up in my head. I'm looking for the name of a creature that can turn into a crow/raven or wolf, and stalk through a battle field feeding on the souls of the dying. In my head I'm thinking Morrigans, but Morrigan is a Celtic goddess with the ability to become a crow, and she doesn't feed off the souls of the dying. Trying to bang at my memories a bit more, I'm thinking the creatures are a Celtic legend or perhaps Saxon (think Vikings).

Does the description ring a bell for anyone? If I had the name, I could do the rest of the research myself.

The legend became fact, they printed the legend...but where to find the stories behind the legends?

weirdoactor — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 22:00:59 -0800

Watching "Assume The Position, Mr. Wuhl" on HBO made me hungry for more debunking of legends and myths that we often accept as fact and history. My problem is, I'm not sure what to search for in seeking such material. Please recommend authors, books, websites, movies and TV shows like this one that I might whet my appetite. FYI: I already watch "Penn & Teller's Bullshit" and "Mythbusters". I need more! Books especially. Help? Thanks!

"Come to a sleepover. Bring your mom's Pretty Woman video and a coin."

crabintheocean — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 23:07:32 -0800

I started thinking about what I guess you'd call "Urban Legend Rules of Thumb", The kind of stuff people (especially teenagers) make up and pass on to answer nagging questions like "How can I tell if my boobs are saggy?" and "How big can an age difference in a relationship be before it's creepy?". I'd like to hear some more. When I was in high school, this kind of stuff was absolutely authoritative and inarguable. You weren't supposed to be able to hold a coin between your thighs when your knees were pressed together, and you had to have had three (3) sexual partners. These were the rules about what was normal and ok, neatly packaged. I'm sure there are a million more. Where do they come from? Do they change over time, or from place to place? Tell me one, and tell me where and when you learned it.

The answers to the dilemmas above are:

You should not be able to hold a coin under a boob (but this one is contradictory, it was also said that you could tell if you were ready for a bra with this test - and what's with all the coins? and what kind of coin?).

You should not date someone younger than half your age plus seven. Therefore an 18 year old may not date anyone younger than 16, or a 30 year old anyone younger than 22.

why diamonds are bad

gen — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 10:24:28 -0800

I need a bunch of evidence/information to educate a friend about the diamond industry; why it is a monopoly, how it has fueled civil wars in African nations, the current state of diamond mining, etc. I thought there was also a famous photojournalist (Salgado?) who took photos of a diamond mine in Africa as well. Can anyone help me gather information on why diamonds should not be purchased? Thank you in advance.

Once thought to be legendary, now known to be real?

orthogonality — Fri, 25 Mar 2005 01:09:58 -0800

What are some things once thought of as mythic, legendary, or folk tales, but know thought or known to be real? Examples I can think of: Troy, until Schliemann unearthed it, possibly Atlantis if Rainer Kühne is right, gorillas or pygmy humans as described by Hanno of Carthage, and hippopotami and Pygmies as described by Herodotus.

But coelacanths would not be an example of what I'm looking for, as while they were mistakenly believed extinct, they never featured (so far as I know) in myths or legends or folk tales or travelers' tales.

Examples from archeology or cryptozoology of especial interest; things first alluded to in myth, legend, or folk tales are of greater interest than things only mentioned in travelers' tales.

(Speaking of Herodotus and pygmies, anyone know what "Near Schaffhausen, Dr Kollman found skeletal remains of small human beings" refers to in the 1911 Britannica entry on pygmies?)