3 ms·

David Macaulay's "Motel of the Mysteries" (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/108831.Motel_of_the_Mysteries https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/108831.Motel_of

David Macaulay's "Motel of the Mysteries" (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/108831.Motel_of_the_Mysteries https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/108831.Motel_of_the_Myst...) satirizes this bias, with archeologists from 4022 inspecting a modern day motel room and uncovering the "holy" toilet. It's a gem.

m741 8y ago
I've got to thank you for this suggestion. I read this maybe 20 years ago in middle school, the concept stuck with me ("everything is oriented to this big box in the largest room, clearly it's a holy space" - television) and spent years thinking about it and never able to figure out what book it was.
- bluntfang 8y ago
  Well how isn't it a holy space? What is religion but an avenue to impart morals and support to a community? Does TV not reach this goal, especially given shows like CSI/Law and Order which basically give the impression that the police/authority have god-like powers to solve crime, which is our societies codified morals? Shows like "Good Morning America" in which the hosts are our pastors giving us our daily dose of what to buy and which celebrities to pay attention to?
dekhn 8y ago
https://i.stack.imgur.com/LKl5c.jpg https://i.stack.imgur.com/LKl5c.jpg one of my favorite books of all time.
lsc 8y ago
Thank you so much! I remember reading this book during my childhood, but the title and author have been lost to me for like two and a half decades. I actively look for these books I remember little snatches of... I thought this one was a Stanislaw Lem book, and though I really, really enjoyed "Memoirs found in a bathtub" - but that wasn't this. The chant of "sanitized for your protection" during the ritual use of the toilet really sticks out in my childhood memory. I wonder if it will be as great, reading it as an adult?
Cthulhu_ 8y ago
Thanks for that, I was just thinking about how people years from now would interpret stuff like our erm, sacred thrones used in the daily cleansing rituals.
- UncleSlacky 8y ago
  Check out "Body Ritual Among the Nacerima": https://msu.edu/~jdowell/miner.html https://msu.edu/~jdowell/miner.html
  - d4rti 8y ago
    And in the same vein, The Sacred Rac : http://www.drabruzzi.com/sacred_rac.html http://www.drabruzzi.com/sacred_rac.html
- JetSpiegel 8y ago
  Daily? More like every other day...

m741 8y ago

I've got to thank you for this suggestion. I read this maybe 20 years ago in middle school, the concept stuck with me ("everything is oriented to this big box in the largest room, clearly it's a holy space" - television) and spent years thinking about it and never able to figure out what book it was.

bluntfang 8y ago
Well how isn't it a holy space? What is religion but an avenue to impart morals and support to a community? Does TV not reach this goal, especially given shows like CSI/Law and Order which basically give the impression that the police/authority have god-like powers to solve crime, which is our societies codified morals? Shows like "Good Morning America" in which the hosts are our pastors giving us our daily dose of what to buy and which celebrities to pay attention to?

dekhn 8y ago

https://i.stack.imgur.com/LKl5c.jpg https://i.stack.imgur.com/LKl5c.jpg one of my favorite books of all time.

lsc 8y ago

Thank you so much! I remember reading this book during my childhood, but the title and author have been lost to me for like two and a half decades. I actively look for these books I remember little snatches of... I thought this one was a Stanislaw Lem book, and though I really, really enjoyed "Memoirs found in a bathtub" - but that wasn't this. The chant of "sanitized for your protection" during the ritual use of the toilet really sticks out in my childhood memory. I wonder if it will be as great, reading it as an adult?

Cthulhu_ 8y ago

Thanks for that, I was just thinking about how people years from now would interpret stuff like our erm, sacred thrones used in the daily cleansing rituals.

UncleSlacky 8y ago
Check out "Body Ritual Among the Nacerima": https://msu.edu/~jdowell/miner.html https://msu.edu/~jdowell/miner.html
- d4rti 8y ago
  And in the same vein, The Sacred Rac : http://www.drabruzzi.com/sacred_rac.html http://www.drabruzzi.com/sacred_rac.html
JetSpiegel 8y ago
Daily? More like every other day...