Hearted Youtube comments on Elvira Bary (@elvirabary) channel.
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@elvirabary I've long been fascinated Elvira by how myths, be they Purley fictional, semi historical and or biblical, you can put that last in any camp you fancy, have had on our cultural understanding of US?.
Go out into any western capital city and ask a hundred people three questions. London, Paris, Berlin, New York etc.
# 1 , have you ever heard of the Philistines?
I'd be surprised if even one person could answer with any historical knowledge.
#2, have you ever heard of the story of Samson and Delilah?.
Many would say yes, but please remind me of the details?.
#3, have you ever heard of the story of David & Goliath?.
That's the story almost everyone knows, but couldn't tell you the origins.
This is why I believe, precive we live in the shadows of myths. We vaguely know of them, they have an outsized influence on our cultural understanding and identity, yet they're almost invisible to us.
Until Tolkien the Arthurian legends was the greatest hero tale ever told.
Was king Arthur and Merlin historical or just fiction?. Was even Jesus historical or just fiction?. I'd argue that questions are irrelevant.
After more than a thousand years of those stories being told & retold they are now an inseparable part of our very cultural identity and understanding of US. We have quite virtually made them manifest. Hence my title " walking in the shadows of myths".
We may not know much of them, but they know everything about us !.
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Elvira, I have seen your refined and elegant face flashed up by the YouTube algorithm for about the last week or two but while it intrigued me, I had not for whatever reason, decided til just now to click on it.
Although the received wisdom is that you should not judge a book by its cover, well, I get what the advice is behind that little epithet - yet it is simultaneously silly to ignore the clues right in front of your eyes! Yes, they will occasionally by themselves lead you to conclusions which are WILDLY off - which of course makes them dangerous to rely on. But, as with human nature - no matter HOW many times we are warned not to generalise and to look at the individual, it is preposterous to suggest that powerful forces aren't present inside nearly all of us which are most often excellent, if not infallible, guides to formulating general principles which can usually be relied on. Principles that when we know them will mostly enable us to predict an outcome or provide a reasonable assessment.
In your case I saw the name and the title of the video so was 99.9% sure you would be a former Soviet citizen. Similarly, the background, hair and clothing strongly suggested a background of some privilege (with by the way, absolutely no negative connotations inferred from that - quite the opposite, in fact!). From that, in turn, I was almost equally sure that not only would your English be immaculate, but that even the also-predicted slight Russian inflection, timbre, rhythm and tone would be sophisticated and graceful - with perhaps even a hint of the influence of the old aristocracy. Yes, I know, even the best theories go too far! And I acknowledge I am far too keen on Tchaikovsky's lugubrious "Pikovaya Dama" to be healthy 😏 But I did permit myself a smile when I hit Play and then again when it turned out a close relative was a senior army officer - in those days, not everyone or even anyone could attain that so I guess it was more a slight twinkle of recognition in my eye than a smile that time.
I have a fascination for psychology while having no formal qualifications in the subject whatsoever. And I suppose my interest is, to use that word again, piqued, when I encounter someone with a seemingly far sighted and profound knack for seeing everything that most miss - and understanding the implications.
I shall look forward with curiosity to other episodes, assuming there are any - there must be at least a few from the links provided at the end of this one but be assured I shall try to unearth the others!
Thank you for the fascinating and rather esoteric material!😆👑
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