Myth as touchstone, cultural benchmark, shared joke. A heterogeneous culture finds its common elements in the stories it tells about the universe.
In the United States, the Myth of the Individual touches each of us in our own way. Rugged individualism, self-sufficiency, go-it-aloneness, I-Am-A-Rockness appeals to us, although it is quite patently as much myth as it is Myth. It informs our sense of self while reinforcing our cultural stereotypes (of those who, you know, actually need other people).
Human experience is by its nature universal. Myth is how we find our place in that story, the common elements that are the foundations of our different experiences.
I was here. And so were you.
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