Assembly of the Authentic Experience
Assembly of the Authentic Experience is a proposed Meta-Narrative of the System VS of the Emergent Value Systems (EVS) framework. In other words, it is the assumed core story of the value system that underlies their view of reality and sense of the implications of what life must be like. The story at the core of the System VS has to do with the being authentically alive in a world fragmented by modern media, materialism, and radical individualism. In such a fragmented world, there are endless voices that broadcast what’s real, but almost none of the the traditional structures that defined reality for humanity in the past like a single culturally coherent mythology, universal religion, or isolated kinship group identity.
While Systems VS is no less individualistic or fragmented than proceeding value systems, they adopt a strategy of assembly — connecting fragments of life together — to produce a “real to me” experience. This is reflected in two prominent System VS phenomenon: (1) Systems VS interacts economically as constant de-constructors and re-assemblers in their strategies for work and in their patterns of consumption. (2) They are conspicuous in their quest for ultimate experiences that must be witnessed by clouds of “authenticating acquaintances” (FB frends).
Joseph Campbell, the comparative mythologist, was famous for filling auditoriums for his compelling lectures. He would draw crowds of all ages and disciplines, ostensibly because he was touching on themes and articulations that had a universal appeal. In one of his most quoted saying touches directly on the System VS meta-narrative:
People say that what we’re all seeking is a meaning for life. I don’t think that’s what we’re really seeking. I think that what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonance within our innermost being and reality, so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive.
— Joseph Campbell in The Power of Myth (with Bill Moyers). Anchor, 1991. pg 5.
Campbell’s thinking is undeniably popular — evidenced by how often he is referenced and how deeply he influenced media-makers like George Lucas and The Wachowskis. However, his idea about the meta-narrative and even his systemic view of mythology must be regarded as a recent construct — as a phenomenon of Systems VS or Universe VS itself.