ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses some mechanisms for what we might refer to as “population” of the common mind—with how ideas and stories come to inhabit the so-called zeitgeist. The focus is on two different toolkits, each of which contains specific tools for the crafting of objects that burrow into the common mind. Both involve elevation of elements of personal life—a process that we shall refer to as transfiguration, with a nod to Arthur Danto (1983). In no way do these toolkits exhaust the influences upon the common mind—they are simply among the more potent influences upon it. And each stand at or near opposed poles of a certain continuum: storytelling, as an archetypical cultural activity stands near the pole of gentle persuasion, while violence stands at the pole we might label forceful politics.
