historical works in recent years are not "new," but in fact rewritten wording of works that came before them. the author describes the issue as "general stagnation" and wont get better so long as people lean on the classic ideals for explainations. in this case, where should we look for new knowledge on old concepts?
→ answer: broaden our concepts of what is seen as "classic" with modern thought and ideology, as in the authors example- cultural influence
symbols can both represent what we understand to be "unalternable" reality (numbers for example,) or moral ideals given certain lifestyles and beliefs of the world (religious symbols)
→ how exactly do symbols like this create such deep run and historical religious movements while others simply maintain a norm in our daily lives?
there are some instances when symbols are "for" a certain situation/thing (found through order of nature ) and other symbols are "of" a certain situation/thing (to express those orders of nature in a structure or analytical way and is oftentimes how human minds think)
→ is this aspect of our human nature worth the aspect of thought autonomy? would it fall under pro/con as to how we understand the world around us?
→ humans in my opinion have some forms of "from" symbolism in terms of power stances for example. whether we mean to or not, in celebration people throw their hands up in the air inherently! it isn't in my opinion some learned nature we've gained from analytically expressing order in a way we can view it, but it simply happens)
humans differ from other species in the sense that we must have symbolic references and sources to survive.
"motivations are "made meaningful" with reference to the ends toward which they are conceived to conduce, whereas moods are "made meaningful" with reference to the conditions from which they are conceived to spring."
→religion lies in the concepts that symbols spark a type of transcendent meaning different from everyday living. in symbols lies a seemingly endless idea of creativity and comfort in "understanding." humans are not good at leaving the unexplanied simply unexplained.
theres a great possibility that in the grand scheme of things, people created religion as a way to find comfort and hope in the pain and suffering of the human experience, and that in reality it may simply be that, a creation of human imagination.
the aspects of religion as a cultural system are embraced by being treated in a way that makes "reality real"
religious acts such as rituals are what bring the religions to life for people
→ cultural influence will heavily imply how certain groups of people will transcribe lessons and information even if the lessons themselves are rather similar.