Limbo
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With this, I very largely concur. However, I do still disagree with your proposition as originally stated; I don't think it reflects what you actually mean.
I'm certainly open to any suggestions you could offer about stating the proposition. But a detail occurs to me that I would like to run past you first, it might help me to clarify my position.
I believe that world religion and myth has two layers - the outer exoteric layer and the inner esoteric layer. The exoteric layer is comprised of people who take the religion at face value. In a traditional culture, that amounts to factual, historical interpretation of myth. In our culture, that amounts to a face value interpretation of sci-fi and comics as entertainment. The exoteric layer is the straightforward man-on-the-street view of the dominant mythology.
In a traditional society, the esoteric layer is the layer of the mystic. The mystic makes a process and practice out of the dominant myth, and goes past it, in a specialized environment. A monastery, a hermitage, a retreat, ect.
In our society, the esoteric layer of the dominant myth is practiced in a science lab. Scientists are the mystics of the space-age mythos. Among other things, they are the ones who look to and listen to the heavens for sign of the mythologem of the space-age - ET.
But they aren't going past the dominant myth in quite the same way mystics do, because our dominant mythology is dysfunctional.
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