Object and Meaning

We need to know four things:

what there is,

what to do about what there is,

that there is a difference between knowing what there is, and

knowing what to do about what there is and what that difference is.

………….

Myth is not primitive proto-science. It is a qualitatively different phenomenon. Science might be considered “description of the world with regards to those aspects that are consensually apprehensible” or “specification of the most effective mode of reaching an end (given a defined end).” Myth can be more accurately regarded as “description of the world as it signifies (for action).” The mythic universe is a place to act, not a place to perceive. Myth describes things in terms of their unique or shared affective valence, their value, their motivational significance.

Source: Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief (2018) by Jordan B. Peterson.