Glossary

Action. Something done by a character in response to an obstacle in a story. Action need not be physical; it may be mental, emotional, or spiritual, for example.

Alpha. The quality of being a mythic source due to one’s embodiment, symbolism, or demonstration of mythic ideals, especially ideals associated with increased social status within a group. Often associated with having secondary alpha characteristics. Also, a person who is alpha.
Alpha game. Interpersonal or inter-group competition to appear alpha without actually being alpha.

Biomythology. What this book is about. An explanation of human nature based on story as the organizing principle of human thought and action.

Character. A source of morally driven action in a story. A moral package capable of action, in the form of a human allegory, created for the purpose of moral demonstration.

Dominance. What happens when one character’s agenda takes place instead of another’s or despite opposing forces in a situation. Dominance can also refer to the process by which a character gets others to change their agendas to his. Dominance is not necessarily physical. It may be had through superior planning, charm, persuasion, luck, etc.

Group. Any aggregation of two or more characters sharing a group myth.

Group myth. A myth held in common by members of a group and whose enactment shapes the beliefs and actions of the group.

Individual myth. The myth a character, usually a person, lives by. It may incorporate all or parts of one or more group myths. The character’s life is an enactment of this myth.

Moral. A statement about the nature of a larger reality than the story at hand.

Moral demonstration. Action which shows a moral to be true. Not a proof, but an example of the truth of a moral.

Moral metaphor. Something, perhaps an object or an action, which is taken to symbolize a moral. The symbolism is beyond the inherent identity; the moral quality is projected onto it by a character.

Moral package. A collection of morals with some unifying quality, perhaps all believed in by a particular character or group.

Moral progression. The evolution of the moral package of a character due to what happens and what the character does about it.

Myth. The story a group or character lives by. Everything about you, your world, your thoughts, your experience, your feelings, your life, is part of your myth. You are the protagonist of your myth.

Mythic logic. Logic based not on rational principles but on story structure.

Mythic material. That which constitutes the myth. To bring new mythic material to a myth would be to give it new characters, obstacles, actions, and/or morals.

Mythic progression. The forward dramatic movement of the plot of a myth as characters act on obstacles, producing moral demonstrations.

Mythic source. That which generates new mythic material. Usually a character. The material may feed the source’s myth or that of a group or another character.

Obstacle. Something that challenges the truth of a character’s moral. How the character copes with the obstacle yields moral demonstration. Obstacles stand in the way of a character’s reaching an answer to his question.

Personal myth. See Individual myth.

Rational logic. Logic based on rational principles, the standard formal logic.

Role. The set of behaviors normally performed by a character in a particular relationship with others.

Secondary alpha characteristics. Qualities of a character normally associated with alpha, such as power, beauty, skill, wealth, strength, and intelligence.

Story. A sequence of action by one or more characters in response to obstacles, resulting in moral demonstrations.

Tribe. A group of people to whom the difference between members and nonmembers is of heightened importance.