Cultural Dark Ages.

The other day I was watching Faith & Reason with Bill Moyers. He was on the topic of myth and how it shapes who we are--with Jeanette Winterson as his guest. This quote was especially interesting to me and I think it should be important to anyone in the humanities. We all need this sense of urgency.

JEANETTE WINTERSON: It is a dark time. It may be that, in some ways, I think. I do think of it that we might be going into a cultural dark ages. And we might have to be like the great Abbeys of Cluny and Fontainebleau and simply keep the culture alive for the future. Because people will come along and they'll want it, and they'll need it.
BILL MOYERS: And will you keep writing because maybe one day somebody will read it.
JEANETTE WINTERSON: Exactly.
BILL MOYERS: You never know for sure.
JEANETTE WINTERSON: You never know for sure. You never know. I may never know how long things will last. That's why you have to have the burning belief in the now and in the moment. And the thing is valid. And that it's worth doing. And it's worth doing with everything you've got, and for your whole life. You know, it can't be a hobby. It can't be a thought experiment. Much depends upon it.