I was reading an article that brought up the old theory about how someday machines we make will someday (and already are to an extent) design more powerful machines, and those will design more powerful machines, etc.
It occurred to me how this is the opposite progression of all the religions/myths I’m aware of regarding the creation of man, whereby more powerful beings (Gods, etc) make the less powerful humans.
My knowledge of mythology and religions is far from complete. I was wondering, are there are any that describe the creation of humanity as being done by beings that were considered lesser than man?
I am not an expert, but if you look back at how mythology and religion got started, they have something to do with forces in nature that human could not predict, let alone control. Things such as lightning, floods, storms, earthquakes, volcanoes, etc.
Since people could do nothing about these forces, they imagined some kind of spirits or gods that could, and appeased them to avert natural disasters.
So I can’t imagine any kind of mythology that would involve lesser beings. Our ancestors had no use for them.
Some Gnostics believed that the material world (which I think they considered to include the physical bodies of humans, although not their supposed immortal souls or spirits) was created by the Demiurge, an evil deity who was not the true God. (The Gnostics considered the material world to be inherently evil.)
There’s a large poulation of people who consider evolution to be their religion. I guess you could argue that any mythology or religion is just another theory like Darwin’s, and vice versa.
IIRC, in Norse mythology humans just kinda developed from fleas on Ymir’s corpse.
Also, you consider a raven as being a “lesser being?” Because (again IIRC) that bird is to blame in Pacific coast legends.
aside:
Well, I guess you could argue that, but you would be wrong. Unless you feel that theories derived from observation of the natural world are the same as revealed wisdom.