The emergence of post-explanation society
Society is not merely a gathering of individuals; it is a network of relationships among them. These relationships are sustained, interpreted, and made meaningful through narratives in each epoch of society. The stories people in society narrate and the way it tells them shape how people understand one another and their place in the world. The nature of a society, therefore, is reflected in its narratives. In traditional societies, folk tales served more than just entertainment; they were significant tools for understanding the world. These narratives explained situations of human life such as suffering and fortune, fear and courage, morality and fate. In times when scientific knowledge was limited, folk tales provided coherence and helped people live with certainty. Their authority is not legitimised by evidence but by repetition, shared memory, collective beliefs and moral familiarity. Listening to a folk tale was also to belong to a community and to share a common understanding of life.
The rise of modern science creates a drastic change in the traditional narrative order of folk tales. Scientific narratives based on rational inquiry, empirical verification, and systematic observation gradually replaced folk tales as legitimate explanations of reality. Knowledge was no longer inherited through memory; instead, it was created through scientific methodological approaches. Facts, data, and research-based inquiry have become essential to studying both natural and social phenomena. Consequently Universities produce experts in diverse disciplines, such as philosophers and scientists, who have replaced elders and storytellers as custodians of truth. This transition has led to a drastic change in human cognition. Scientific explanations made it possible........
