Preservianism - A Conreligion
Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2020 3:15 pm
This is not related to my "main" conworld, that is, the one about which I've posted before a few times, mainly because I don't imagine that conworld having the kind of prehistory necessary for this conreligion.
(Trigger warning: very brief mention of sexual violence later on)
Preservianism is generally believed to have been founded by some survivors of a very modern scientific and technological society that collapsed, in order to preserve some of their scientific and technological knowledge. A competing theory says that the basics of Preservianism were taught to some of the ancestors of today's believers by visiting aliens from another planet, but that is more speculative.
The core of Preservianism is a sacred text that is called the How-To, because it consists mostly of instructions on how to do various things. (You might not believe me on this point, but I swear that inside my head, I came up with this aspect of the religion years before Randall Munroe published his book with a similar title.)
Some parts of the How-To deal with the basics of various physical sciences, but most of it is taken up with instructions on how to make and use all kinds of tools and technological devices ranging from those of ancient times to roughly those of the Renaissance era. Since the preservation and spread of the How-To itself is one of the most important, perhaps the most important, tenet of the religion, large parts of the How-To consist of instructions on how to produce, prepare, and use various writing materials, and even on simple printing devices.
If the How-To would be translated into English and published as an average-sized modern paper book with letters printed in the most common size, it would be about 1000 pages long. Of these, about 200 pages would deal with matters of human health and how the human body works. And out of these, about 50 pages would deal with matters of reproduction, sex, sexual health, and sexuality. You may guess three times which parts of the How-To many people who are not Preservians are obsessed with, and which are often copied, usually in a garbled form, into texts with titles like The Secrets Of The How-To Revealed.
The core of the How-To, that is, the part usually seen as the most important part, is an essay of about 20 pages with the title From The Small To The Big. It lays out the basics of the general scientific view of what things exist and what things happens at various physical scales of magnitude, from the size of subatomic particles through the size of atoms and molecules through the size of cells through the size of human beings through the size of planets through the size of solar systems through to size of galaxies to the size of the Universe as a whole. From The Small To The Big is seen as so important a text that there is a general convention that when a Preservian writer writes a book, no matter on what subject or in what genre, for which the original text is at least five times as long as From The Small To The Big, then From The Small To The Big should be included at the start of any completed written version of the book.
Since the later parts of From The Small To The Big are partly about how big the Universe and the larger things in it are compared to human beings, some varieties of Preservianism focus on a very fatalistic or nihilistic attitude, arguing that in the larger scheme of things, nothing human beings do really matters. Critics of this view usually argue that if human beings and their actions would really be so unimportant, the How-To wouldn't consist mostly of instructions to human beings on how to do things.
Since the How-To has preserved the germ theory of disease, Preservianism generally puts a lot of importance on hygiene. An important role is played by the Three Sacred Waters - boiling water, freshly boiled water, and recently boiled water. There have been serious theological disputes over when, exactly, water turns from the second into the third of these, and when it stops being the third. The relevant section of the How-To notes that there are other substances with disinfectant properties, too, but that it doesn't have the space to cover them all. Therefore, it encourages scholars to do their own research on the matter, and recommends that they should start out from the assumption that what kills human beings in large enough doses might kill germs in smaller doses. Unfortunately, some have interpreted this as an instruction to use quack remedies based on making patients ingest small doses of poisons.
The sections of the How-To dealing with sexual matters indicate several times that both rape and persecution of consensual sexual activities are very bad, but aside from that, and from generally stressing the importance of hygiene, and of knowledge and learning, and of following basic safety rules when working, the How-To is mostly silent when it comes to instructions on how to live. There are various theories about why that is so: some think that the writers and compilers of the How-To couldn't agree among each other on those things; others think that the writers and compilers thought that these matters would be too dependent on the specific circumstances people found themselves in in different times and places; and yet others think that the writers and compilers thought that people wouldn't listen to their moral and ethical exhortations anyway. In any case, many groups of Preservians have responded to this perceived gap in the wisdom of the How-To by coming up with syncretist varieties that combine practical instructions and material knowledge from the How-To with spiritual and/or moral teachings of other religions. These varieties tend to be the most successful ones when it comes to proselytizing, since they don't require new converts to give up all their previous beliefs. But a few very controversial varieties of Preservianism teach that the How-To's relative silence on moral issues constitutes a positive affirmation of amoralism.
It was very difficult for the writers and compilers of the How-To to fit as much information as possible into as few words as possible. They probably thought that they couldn't spare any space for things like biographical information on individual people who had, really or supposedly, discovered various parts of the knowledge they were recording. So, aside from many references to people who might want to follow specific instructions, and to "you", the How-To doesn't contain a single character, and doesn't have any plot or plots. That is, frankly, not what many people who are into reading or listening to recitals expect from the texts they read or listen to. Therefore, some varieties of Preservianism have compiled large collections of stories, and sometimes put these collections of the same level of veneration as the How-To itself. Some offshoots have even focused so much on these collections that they mostly or entirely abandoned the How-To itself, but those groups are usually seen not as "real Preservians" at all by most followers of other varieties.
One of the most important varieties of Preservianism are the Localists. Their main teaching is that, while the How-To is universal and always important and relevant, in each place and at each time, there is an even larger collection of local knowledge that is equally important for the people who live in that place at that time. They therefore spend a lot of time and effort on trying to research, write down, and compile that local knowledge. This, of courses, offers endless opportunities for arguments and schisms.
The Preservian counterpart to a temple or house of worship is the Sanctuary. These vary a lot in size and shape, but the section of the How-To dealing with their founding and maintenance mandates that each must contain at least three sections: the Learning Section, the Healing Section, and the Working Section. How these sections look like depends on the size of the Sanctuary: in the smallest ones, the Learning sections will be a single shelf with a few books considered educationally valuable, of course including the How-To; the Healing Section will be a small box that might be described in modern English as a kind of medicine cabinet; and the Working Section will be a single workbench with a few tools on it. In the largest Sanctuaries, the Learning Sections are among the largest libraries on the planet; the Healing Sections are extensive hospitals with many beds and rooms for healers to practice their art; and the Working Sections contain many workshops, and usually at least a few printing premises. While the How-To requires only those three sections, most Preservian groups have found it useful to include meeting rooms or assembly halls of some kind in their Sanctuaries as well. In some of the most common varieties of Preservianism, there is a convention that each town or village where Preservians live should have at least two Sanctuaries: one in the center of the town or village, where it is as close as possible to the community it is meant to serve; and one at some distance from the town or village, perhaps in a forest or other secluded place, where people can go for calm contemplation.
Ok, that's all I can think of for now.
(Trigger warning: very brief mention of sexual violence later on)
Preservianism is generally believed to have been founded by some survivors of a very modern scientific and technological society that collapsed, in order to preserve some of their scientific and technological knowledge. A competing theory says that the basics of Preservianism were taught to some of the ancestors of today's believers by visiting aliens from another planet, but that is more speculative.
The core of Preservianism is a sacred text that is called the How-To, because it consists mostly of instructions on how to do various things. (You might not believe me on this point, but I swear that inside my head, I came up with this aspect of the religion years before Randall Munroe published his book with a similar title.)
Some parts of the How-To deal with the basics of various physical sciences, but most of it is taken up with instructions on how to make and use all kinds of tools and technological devices ranging from those of ancient times to roughly those of the Renaissance era. Since the preservation and spread of the How-To itself is one of the most important, perhaps the most important, tenet of the religion, large parts of the How-To consist of instructions on how to produce, prepare, and use various writing materials, and even on simple printing devices.
If the How-To would be translated into English and published as an average-sized modern paper book with letters printed in the most common size, it would be about 1000 pages long. Of these, about 200 pages would deal with matters of human health and how the human body works. And out of these, about 50 pages would deal with matters of reproduction, sex, sexual health, and sexuality. You may guess three times which parts of the How-To many people who are not Preservians are obsessed with, and which are often copied, usually in a garbled form, into texts with titles like The Secrets Of The How-To Revealed.
The core of the How-To, that is, the part usually seen as the most important part, is an essay of about 20 pages with the title From The Small To The Big. It lays out the basics of the general scientific view of what things exist and what things happens at various physical scales of magnitude, from the size of subatomic particles through the size of atoms and molecules through the size of cells through the size of human beings through the size of planets through the size of solar systems through to size of galaxies to the size of the Universe as a whole. From The Small To The Big is seen as so important a text that there is a general convention that when a Preservian writer writes a book, no matter on what subject or in what genre, for which the original text is at least five times as long as From The Small To The Big, then From The Small To The Big should be included at the start of any completed written version of the book.
Since the later parts of From The Small To The Big are partly about how big the Universe and the larger things in it are compared to human beings, some varieties of Preservianism focus on a very fatalistic or nihilistic attitude, arguing that in the larger scheme of things, nothing human beings do really matters. Critics of this view usually argue that if human beings and their actions would really be so unimportant, the How-To wouldn't consist mostly of instructions to human beings on how to do things.
Since the How-To has preserved the germ theory of disease, Preservianism generally puts a lot of importance on hygiene. An important role is played by the Three Sacred Waters - boiling water, freshly boiled water, and recently boiled water. There have been serious theological disputes over when, exactly, water turns from the second into the third of these, and when it stops being the third. The relevant section of the How-To notes that there are other substances with disinfectant properties, too, but that it doesn't have the space to cover them all. Therefore, it encourages scholars to do their own research on the matter, and recommends that they should start out from the assumption that what kills human beings in large enough doses might kill germs in smaller doses. Unfortunately, some have interpreted this as an instruction to use quack remedies based on making patients ingest small doses of poisons.
The sections of the How-To dealing with sexual matters indicate several times that both rape and persecution of consensual sexual activities are very bad, but aside from that, and from generally stressing the importance of hygiene, and of knowledge and learning, and of following basic safety rules when working, the How-To is mostly silent when it comes to instructions on how to live. There are various theories about why that is so: some think that the writers and compilers of the How-To couldn't agree among each other on those things; others think that the writers and compilers thought that these matters would be too dependent on the specific circumstances people found themselves in in different times and places; and yet others think that the writers and compilers thought that people wouldn't listen to their moral and ethical exhortations anyway. In any case, many groups of Preservians have responded to this perceived gap in the wisdom of the How-To by coming up with syncretist varieties that combine practical instructions and material knowledge from the How-To with spiritual and/or moral teachings of other religions. These varieties tend to be the most successful ones when it comes to proselytizing, since they don't require new converts to give up all their previous beliefs. But a few very controversial varieties of Preservianism teach that the How-To's relative silence on moral issues constitutes a positive affirmation of amoralism.
It was very difficult for the writers and compilers of the How-To to fit as much information as possible into as few words as possible. They probably thought that they couldn't spare any space for things like biographical information on individual people who had, really or supposedly, discovered various parts of the knowledge they were recording. So, aside from many references to people who might want to follow specific instructions, and to "you", the How-To doesn't contain a single character, and doesn't have any plot or plots. That is, frankly, not what many people who are into reading or listening to recitals expect from the texts they read or listen to. Therefore, some varieties of Preservianism have compiled large collections of stories, and sometimes put these collections of the same level of veneration as the How-To itself. Some offshoots have even focused so much on these collections that they mostly or entirely abandoned the How-To itself, but those groups are usually seen not as "real Preservians" at all by most followers of other varieties.
One of the most important varieties of Preservianism are the Localists. Their main teaching is that, while the How-To is universal and always important and relevant, in each place and at each time, there is an even larger collection of local knowledge that is equally important for the people who live in that place at that time. They therefore spend a lot of time and effort on trying to research, write down, and compile that local knowledge. This, of courses, offers endless opportunities for arguments and schisms.
The Preservian counterpart to a temple or house of worship is the Sanctuary. These vary a lot in size and shape, but the section of the How-To dealing with their founding and maintenance mandates that each must contain at least three sections: the Learning Section, the Healing Section, and the Working Section. How these sections look like depends on the size of the Sanctuary: in the smallest ones, the Learning sections will be a single shelf with a few books considered educationally valuable, of course including the How-To; the Healing Section will be a small box that might be described in modern English as a kind of medicine cabinet; and the Working Section will be a single workbench with a few tools on it. In the largest Sanctuaries, the Learning Sections are among the largest libraries on the planet; the Healing Sections are extensive hospitals with many beds and rooms for healers to practice their art; and the Working Sections contain many workshops, and usually at least a few printing premises. While the How-To requires only those three sections, most Preservian groups have found it useful to include meeting rooms or assembly halls of some kind in their Sanctuaries as well. In some of the most common varieties of Preservianism, there is a convention that each town or village where Preservians live should have at least two Sanctuaries: one in the center of the town or village, where it is as close as possible to the community it is meant to serve; and one at some distance from the town or village, perhaps in a forest or other secluded place, where people can go for calm contemplation.
Ok, that's all I can think of for now.
