Post 29 – The Great Myth of Becoming: The Central Illusion of Western Thought

While philosophy emerged from the desire to move beyond myth and provide more rational, logical explanations of reality, it is almost ironic that it inadvertently gave birth to what may be the greatest myth ever conceived: the belief in becoming—the notion that things come into existence and then fade away. Since the dawn of philosophy in ancient Greece, this idea has become the foundational assumption underlying Western thought. It is not merely one narrative among many but the very framework that has shaped philosophy, science, and religion. Yet, this framework represents a profound error—a misinterpretation of Being—that leads to alienation and nihilism.

Why Is Becoming a Myth?

A myth, in the traditional sense, is a narrative that seeks to explain reality but does so through symbolic, often unconscious assumptions rather than through necessity. The myth of becoming is the ultimate example of this:

It Assumes That Being Can Arise from Nothing

The most fundamental premise of becoming is that things begin to exist. A person is born, a tree grows, a civilization emerges. But what does it mean for something to “begin”? If a being truly was not before its emergence, then it must have come from nothing. Yet, as Parmenides and Severino affirm, ex nihilo nihil fit—nothing can come from nothing. The belief that things “begin” from non-being is an irrational assumption, not a rational necessity.

It Implies That Being Can Vanish into Nothing

Just as birth is seen as an emergence, death is seen as an annihilation. Things “end,” and their being is believed to dissolve into non-being. But if a being truly ceases to be, then it must transition into nothingness. This, too, is impossible—what is cannot become what is not. Thus, the idea that anything can stop being is a mythological claim, not a necessary truth.

It Is an Interpretative Framework, Not an Objective Fact

The human experience of change—aging, movement, transformation—is assumed to be proof that things genuinely become and perish. But this assumption rests on a particular way of interpreting reality rather than on reality itself. The fact that something appears differently at different times does not mean that it has become something else. The mistake lies in confusing the appearing of beings with their actual ontological status.

It Is Rooted in the Historical Development of Thought

The idea of becoming was not always self-evident. Ancient Greek thought, particularly Parmenides, denied the reality of change, affirming instead the eternity of Being. However, Plato introduced a split between the eternal realm of Forms and the changing world of appearances, and Aristotle developed a metaphysics of potentiality and actuality, allowing for the notion of transformation. Christianity further reinforced this idea with the doctrine of creatio ex nihilo, making becoming a fundamental aspect of the Western worldview. Yet all of this remains an interpretation, not a necessity.

Becoming as the Myth That Generates Nihilism

The myth of becoming is not just an error; it is the foundation of nihilism. Once becoming is accepted, the entire structure of Western thought is built on the belief that beings are contingent, that they do not have an eternal necessity. This leads to:

• The Fear of Death: If becoming is real, then annihilation is real, generating existential anxiety.
• The Search for Salvation: If reality is transient and unstable, then meaning must be sought in something that redeems existence from impermanence—whether through religious salvation, historical progress, or technological mastery.
• The Domination of Technology: If beings are not eternally what they are, then they can be manipulated, controlled, and transformed. This underlies the modern technological mindset that seeks to reshape reality according to human will.

In contrast, if becoming is a myth, then beings do not emerge or perish—they are. There is no true loss, no annihilation, no contingency. Every being is eternally itself, appearing in different ways but never ceasing to be.

Unveiling the Myth: The Return to Destiny

Recognizing becoming as a myth is not merely an intellectual exercise; it is the return to destiny, the realization that everything that is has always been and will always be. This does not mean returning to a past state but awakening to the necessity that was never truly absent.

By dismantling the myth of becoming, thought returns to its proper ground: the eternal necessity of Being. What seemed to be a historical process of emergence and destruction is revealed as an erroneous or mistaken interpretation generated by nihilism. In this way, the myth of becoming is not just an error—it is the veil that has concealed the joy of eternity.

The Removal of the Veil: Awakening to the Eternity of Being

The unveiling of the myth of becoming is not the introduction of something new but the realization of what has always been. The joy of eternity is not created through this unveiling; it is already present, already real, but hidden by the erroneous or mistaken interpretation of becoming. This unveiling takes place in three dimensions: as something eternally real (always already), as something that can be recognized personally (in experience), and as something that unfolds within history (in time).

Eternity as Already Existing: The Veil Was Never Truly There

From the perspective of necessity, the removal of the veil is not a process in which Being becomes eternal—it has always been eternal. The myth of becoming does not actually alter reality; it only affects the way it appears within a certain historical horizon of thought. Even while under the erroneous or mistaken interpretation of becoming, beings remain what they eternally are. The joy of eternity is not something that will come into being when the veil is lifted—it is already real, even now, even in the midst of erroneous or mistaken interpretation.

This means that, in the deepest sense, there is nothing to “attain.” There is no lost paradise to be regained, no transformation that must occur to make reality more eternal than it already is. What is necessary is not a change in Being but the end of an erroneous or mistaken interpretation.

Personal Awakening: The Recognition of Eternity in Experience

Although eternity is always real, the experience of this truth can remain veiled by the belief in becoming. The unveiling occurs when thought ceases to interpret existence through the lens of emergence and destruction and instead recognizes the necessity of all things. This awakening does not create eternity; it is the recognition that every being is already eternal and necessary.

This can happen in moments of insight, when the fear of loss dissolves, when one sees that what is cannot be erased. It can happen through philosophical reflection, when one understands that the idea of becoming is internally contradictory. It can even happen through art, love, or beauty—whenever something is grasped as being irreplaceable, as something that cannot be lost in the void.

The Eternal and the Historical: A Unity Without Contradiction

The removal of the veil, then, is simultaneously:

• Eternal: Because the joy of eternity was never truly absent.
• Experiential: Because individuals awaken to this realization in their own experience.
• Historical: Because thought, through time, necessarily comes to unveil the erroneous or mistaken interpretation that has shaped Western civilization.

This is not a mere doctrine but the necessity of thought itself arriving at its own foundation. The unveiling of eternity is not something that might happen; it is the inevitable movement of Being revealing itself as what it has always been.