Invention of Writing
Without question, one of the most profound inventions of human history was written language. Humans have been able to speak and think for at least 50,000 years, but written language has only been around for a few thousand.
This means that for most of human history, our thoughts and words were indistinguishable. With no written record other than basic symbols for basic things, we had to remember complex stories and ideas.
But with the invention of written language. That all changed. History and scholars figure that the main reason written language was invented was to satisfy a specific need. And that specific need was most likely accounting.
Pay Me
The most ancient texts that have been found are centered around payments other record keeping systems. Who owned what, how much people owed to whom. But once they figured out writing, it opened up a whole new world of possibility.
Since only government officials and other rulers, the wealthy elites had access to not only writing skills but written documents, this allowed them to consolidate an extraordinary amount of power.
Storytellers who were associated with the wealthy elite went from telling stories and myths from memories to being able to recite them from written texts, which allowed for much more detail, and a much more directed shaping of the publicly accepted narrative.
Power Goes Uphill
Using written texts to consolidate power was common. Perhaps the most consequential and long lasting example of this was when the Bible was first put together.
The first Bible was called the Latin Vulgate and was put together in the late 4th century. This was after the collapse of the Roman empire had begun, and when the Catholic Church had already been chosen by the rulers to be the official state sanctioned religion.
Understanding the historical context is critical. The Roman empire was the largest and most influential empire the world had ever seen at that time. This meant it attracted scholars, mystics and storytellers from around the world for several hundred years during it’s growth and decline.
End of Empire
The leaders of the early church were also the leaders of the already corrupt and collapsing Roman empire. The early church fathers were also wealthy political leaders and land owners. The Catholic church would later become the wealthiest organization on Earth.
If you think about a newspaper, there are several reporters and an editor. One common distinction that separates good reporters from bad reporters is how well they take any objective event, and turn it into an interesting story.
This requires giving meaning to events that are both interesting and will be accepted by most common people. But even more important than the journalists are the editors.
Editorial Power
The editors get to decide which stories get published, and which don’t. Editors are essentially the gate keepers who shape the narrative at any given time. Being able to control the narrative is a very powerful position.
All the religious, spiritual and mystical texts that had been handed down from oral traditions and then written into texts during the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, must have been enormous.
The rulers of any society are likely to do anything to maintain their power and wealth and do so in the easiest way possible. Like any powerful entity, they are concerned with any competition for their power and wealth.
Samurais Were Broke
It’s an interesting aspect of history that both the early Roman church and ancient Samurai Japan had a similar idea about money.
If you are a small group of men who want to not only consolidate wealth and power but also keep any others from rising up and contesting your power, one way to do that would be to control the narrative with regards to wealth, and any behaviors, thoughts or practices that could lead to anybody gaining power and wealth.
Samurai Japan and early Christian Rome, both share the idea, taught to the masses, that it was holy or noble to be poor. That the desire to earn money was bad or evil. The Bible, this collection of books put together by the wealthy church fathers, said it was nearly impossible for the rich to enter into heaven.
Power Hoarders
It is a very defensible idea that when they decided which books to put in the bible, and which books to keep out, it would make sense that they would put books in which would help them to consolidate and maintain their power.
And they would keep books out that would cause others to learn the secrets of power and wealth. That they would be naturally worried that if anybody were able to find these books, and study from these books, then they would be able to learn the secrets of wealth.
Plenty of people have been seeking these hidden texts ever since. The idea is very compelling. That there exists a secret collection of texts, ancient manuscripts that teach the secrets to wealth and power.
Magic In Hidden Books
That if you can find these books, that if you can study from these books, that if you can learn from these books, the you might find the secrets of wealth. That you might learn the secrets of power. That you might understand the truth about money.
One problem scholars have when studying ancient mythology, particularly Chinese mythology, is it’s hard to differentiate between myths that were originally of the oral tradition, and represented the organic culture and origins of ancient society, and those that were specifically created by the leading authorities.
One thing that commonly happened once writing was invented was the authorities generally took control of the public narrative, and slowly changed the local myths so the deities and gods in the myths would come to be associated with the leaders.
Mythological Hijacking
So when scholars study these ancient myths, it’s hard to tell which stories and character arcs and deities are more culturally organic, and which were written for political purposes.
This seems to be a common theme of watershed inventions like writing, and weapons and breakthroughs in energy and even hard currency. It’s hard to tell the true nature of these inventions from how they are used to promote and maintain the status quo of the wealthy elite.
One wonders what the true nature of these secrets are, and if we’ll ever understand these completely.
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