"Myths"

1. In almost every culture there are stories and myths. Our ancestors created myths to explain about life, religion and culture. Back then there was no science or anyone to teach or explain why things happen, so people started coming up with stories on why we do things or why things exist. Humans like knowledge and reason. Due to our curiosity we ask questions and for most people a simple answer won't do. People like their answers in depth or multiple answers and explanations. It helps our understanding. Some families and mainly the grandparents in a family, are closer to myths, usually from the country they are from. The grandparents heard these stories when they were kids and they were passed down to them from past generations. Even though science proves these myths wrong, people do not forget about them because it means something to them and their families, it keeps their culture alive and gives them a sence of belonging.

2. I feel that some of the Australian Aboriginals and Maori values are somewhat similar to ours. The Australian Aboriginals show that they respect parents, elders, animals, but everything good also has a good side. It relates to how we live our lives today, for example when we first meet some one we try to be really nice and have good manners, like the children in the story who live peacefully together initially and then as we get to know people better we try to find fault or get into disagreements like how the kids in the story get jealous of each other. You then have to learn how to overcome the problems that you come across and solve them. The Maori story about creation seems to remind me of American history. In a way they are similar, about 80-90 years ago males were considered superior to women and in the story there was a ratio of 70:1 boys to girls.

3. The reason that these stories may vary is because they are usually passed down through word of mouth and may change every few generations. It's like the telephone game, by the time the message reaches the last person the story as changed. In the Australian Aboriginals story, they state that the Sun Mother created everything, while the Maori believe that Earth started out as nothing and God created everything. Stories do vary place to place and family to family.

4. These stories are trying to say that everyone fights, that jealosy is normal. Even today you see people fighting. People fight almost over everything like money, power, jealousy. Some parts of these stories that are beyond Science are how things come to exist out of nothing, or how and why the Earth rotates around the Sun. The problems that these cultures and their creation stories struggle with and that still exist today are jealousy, separation of children from their parents, separation of parents, sibling rivalry, natural disasters, etc.

5. I think that human life was created through evolution and survival of the fittest. I'm not too sure how the Earth was created, but I've read a little about the Big Bang Theory. I think Earth was created by a big explosion on the Sun that separated a piece of it, which cooled down over millions of years and created the Earth. I view the Earth as something thats always changing and evolving and hopefully for the better, if man's inventions do not destroy it. Part of my belief comes from reading about it in the National Geographic or from my science class.