the timboucher experience

In preparation for my book, I have put together a summarized version of everything that I’ve written about more extensively so far. This is probably the first third of it, and covers the basics of how I perceive religions and stories working. The key term here is “version control“. (Scattered throughout are links to things I’ve written which deal with the topics at hand more extensively.) The second part will focus more on ritual & belief, and how people participate in and interact with stories. The third part will synthesize elements of the first two into philosophy of using stories for sacramental purposes. Of course, this is just a preliminary plan, and that will most likely change.

Part 1 Outline

1. Stories are how humans organize, understand and communicate experiences.
2. Stories can be understood on a variety of levels, including: (1) literally, (2) by their structure & context, (3) according to the reasons it was created, (4) according to the effects it has on people. These four levels of interpretation, taken as a dynamic whole constitute a “story-system“.
3. When people share stories with one another, they are modified based on how they are structured, the context of the storyteller compared to the audience, and the personal impact and identification the audience feels.
4. In order to overcome this natural tendency towards story modification, people have created methods to maintain version control of their stories.
5. The main methods of version control are: (1) Putting a story into a fixed format – “official” version; (2) Centralized distribution of official version of a story; (3) Creating shared context for a cultural group; (4) Persecuting non-official versions and distribution.
6. The history of the Christian religion offers a useful metaphor for the above: (1) Official versions of the Christian story were included in the Canonical books of the Bible; (2) Official versions were distributed by the Church hierarchy; (3) Everyone was expected to go to Church and participate in its rituals; (4) Non-official works were excluded as Apocrypha, and if story and practice drifted too far off course, it was labelled heresy and persecuted.
7. Modern media provides another useful illustration: (1) Mainstream media companies provide their official copyrighted versions of their stories; (2) official versions are distributed through media channels; (3) nearly everyone has some exposure to media in one format or another; (4) unauthorized duplication (ie, bootlegging & file-sharing) is legally prosecuted, as is modification (ie, copyright infringement).
8. Despite the best efforts of centralized story-distributors, person-to-person networks of apocryphal and heretical story-creation and distribution always exist. These networks are a threat to centralized story-distributors because they flout institutional social authority and profit structures, and motivate competition to centrally-distributed stories.
9. Different types of religions, and movements within religions, deal with this issue of version control and story-interpretation in different ways.
10. Fundamentalist or orthodox religions focus very strongly on maintaining version control over their stories, as described above.
11. A shared story provides social cohesion in orthodox religions. Literal interpretation of that story also helps to ensure unity, since everyone understands it at the same level.
12. All stories have a sort of “brand identity” whereby you can quickly tell if an element “makes sense” in relation to a story. Fundamentalism seeks to maintain the purity or brand identity of their stories from outside influence (ie, competing stories). Items which are dissonant with the brand identity of a story will activate an automatic “cultural immune system.”
13. In a religious setting, the concept of “evil” is the most common response of an activated cultural immune system. By labelling something as evil, a fundamentalist is able to pull outside elements into their story, assigning them a subsidiary role therein. Competing or threatening stories are thus neutralized or swallowed, and the integrity of the story/religion is protected.
14. While orthodox/fundamentalist religions maintain social cohesion through uniformity and purity of story, syncretic religions create unity through fusion of diverse stories.
15. Syncretic religions often are formed when two or more orthodox groups are forced into close proximity and social interaction. Heavy communication and exposure causes the cultual immune systems of each group to grow acclimated to one another’s stories. Similar elements within each story-system gradually grow together.
16. Most religions are in some sense syncretic, having arisen out of or in reaction to other religions. Many times, a religion will start out as a syncretic fusion, and over time grow into a more orthodox tradition.
17. Orthodox & syncretic religions, being social functions, tend to focus around experiences and stories which can be shared among groups of people. Mysticism is the third direction in religion which focuses on individual experience.
18. Mysticism encourages direct and unique experiences which are usually ineffable, or impossible to communicate to other people. Mystics will often create their own individual stories to explain and integrate these experiences into their lives.
19. Mysticism on the individual level, tends to translate into syncretic religions on the social level, since syncretic religions are better equipped to handle diversity among members. Alternatively, an orthodox religion may inspire its own mystical movement which changes the orthodoxy from within using its own symbols and stories (as opposed to syncretism, which challenges orthodoxy from outside). Also, an orthodoxy may be founded upon the ineffable mystical teachings and stories of an individual, which become codified into a social system.
20. Religious traditions can be understood by how they cope with the three drives of orthodoxy, syncretism & mysticism. Throughout their history, religions will fluctuate between them and sub-groups within will emphasize one of these drives over the other.

So yeah, these are the pieces that I have put together so far. I’m pretty excited about the whole thing. It’s really starting to hang together in a good way.

• Religion
• The Religion of Buying
• Religions as Memeplexes (Part 2)
• Types of Religions
• Types of Religion, Part 2