We have faith in our convictions and ideals. To have faith the participant must either be unaware of the paradox or not accept it. The search for truth always negates the belief systems of existing mythologies by exposing their contradictions and destroying their coherence. When the narratives of the diachronic myths of modern culture no longer seem reasonable and no longer serve to integrate the participant in society, new myths develop to take their place. Science has overtaken religion as the active mythology of Western culture.
Religion is no match for the miracles of science.
From atomic weapons to electron microscopes, from genetic engineering to satellite television, science allows us to manipulate the environment as never before. Its advances continually reconfirm its status and reassure us of its ability to mediate the unknown. The scientist assumes that through analysis and classification he achieves a concrete understanding of reality. But the objectively perceived world is only as objective as the mythology that produced it. This is not to say there is no phenomenal world, but the perceptual and conceptual processes are interpretive, and herein lies the myth.