What's What in Chapter 4 of Myth and Reality

One had to cram all this stuff into one's mind for the examinations, whether one liked it or not. This coercion had such a deterring effect on me that, after I had passed the final examination, I found the consideration of any scientific problems dis”

Albert Einstein  I've read it, I've highlighted it, and now I'm here to summarize (and/or note important passages)it in convenient cram-style bullet points. Here's to the exam! The end of the world is not final, rather it is often the end of one human race, followed by the appearance of another. The end of the world in the past and that which is to take place in the future both represent the mythico-ritual system of the New Year festival projected on the macrocosmic scale and given an unusual amount of intensity. Andamanese language has no future tense The rarest myths among "primitives"  are those that do not mention the recreation of the world.  The punishment of sins usually means the subsequent creation of a new humanity. "I have devoured too many corpses, I am filled from it, and I am exhausted. Do make an end of it, my father!"-myth of the Guarani. The cycles of degradation prey on the universe as well, and as such, it requires renewal. Doctrine of the destruction of the world-Pralaya  Four ages of the world-Yugras, Indian culture "And then everything will begin over again-ad infinitum." The indian doctrine: man does not want eternal re-creation, his goal is to escape the cosmic cycle." "The end has no meaning except for the human condition; man can halt the process of transmigration in which he is blindly carried along." Aristotle-2 catastrophes occurred at 2 solstices, the conflagratio(summer) and the diluvium(winter). Judaeo-Christian belief: There is a judgement, a selection, and only the chosen will live in eternal bliss. The reign of an antichrist is in some sense equivalent  to a return to chaos. Nazism and Communism are loaded with eschatological elements.  Large millennialist movement-Melanesian "cargo-cult". Artists seek to return to chaos in order to pave the way for their own artwork. This is important work as artists encompass the largest percentage of their culture's creative force. Artists can at times anticipate what is to come a few generations down the line. The destruction of artistic languages has coincided with the rise of psychoanalysis.  Artists are healthier psychically than many modern men.  Artists understand that only true new beginnings can happen only after a real end.  Artists destroy their world so that man can live and dream and contemplate.  We can do it!