Summary of Selects: Why Do Great Flood Myths Seem To Be Universal?

Overview of Selects: Why Do Great Flood Myths Seem To Be Universal?

This Selects episode (a 2021 Stuff You Should Know pick) examines why flood stories — from Noah’s Ark to the Epic of Gilgamesh and many indigenous legends — appear across widely separated cultures. The hosts weigh historical, geological, anthropological, and folkloric explanations and introduce geomythology: the idea that myths often preserve real observations of natural disasters (floods, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions) encoded in mythic language.

Key points and main takeaways

• Flood myths are widespread but not literally identical; the recurrence likely reflects several interacting causes rather than a single global deluge.
• No geological evidence supports a single, worldwide flood (the kind a literal reading of Noah would require). Modern geology shows slow, long-term processes shaping Earth’s surface.
• Geomythology argues that myths can preserve accurate eyewitness information about local or regional natural disasters — useful when correlated with geological and archaeological data.
• Plausible mechanisms for the distribution of similar flood stories:
  • Local catastrophic floods that devastated a community (and were remembered as world-ending).
  • Independent, repeated experiences of flooding (floods/tsunamis are common).
  • Transmission of a flood tradition by migrating populations (e.g., proto-Indo-Europeans).
  • Cultural diffusion via missionaries and colonization (biblical flood tales influencing indigenous versions).

Explanations and theories explored

• Deluvialism (19th-century idea): the global flood shaped Earth’s geology — discredited by modern geology.
• Local catastrophic events: big regional floods or tsunamis leave strong impressions and oral accounts that can be magnified over generations.
• Migration / common origin: a single community’s flood myth carried outward as groups dispersed (proto-Indo-European hypothesis).
• Cultural contact / missionary influence: biblical flood narratives introduced into previously non-diluvian myth traditions (noted in parts of the South Pacific after 1814).
• Psychological/psychoanalytic ideas (e.g., flood motifs as dreams or symbolism of birth fluids) — discussed but seen as less convincing for explaining geographic patterns.

Geomythology: method and importance

• Definition: interdisciplinary approach that uses myths/legends as potential records of real geological events; often practiced by geologists collaborating with archaeologists, paleohydrologists, paleobathymetrists, dendrochronologists, etc.
• Approach:
  • Identify a mythic motif that could describe a natural event.
  • Search for geological/archaeological evidence (sediment layers, submerged settlements, tsunami deposits, tree kill horizons, historical records).
  • Correlate dates and locations (cross-disciplinary corroboration increases confidence).
• Value: preserves “pre-scientific eyewitness” data passed down orally; can point researchers to buried or submerged evidence.

Notable case studies discussed

• Epic of Gilgamesh vs. Noah: Gilgamesh’s flood predates the biblical account; similarities raise questions about transmission and/or a shared memory of ancient inundation(s).
• Black Sea / Bosporus flood hypothesis (William Ryan & Walter Pitman): about 7,000 years ago rising Mediterranean waters breached the Bosporus, causing a catastrophic inflow into the Black Sea basin — proposed as a possible origin for some Near Eastern flood tales.
• Persian Gulf (Aqua Terra concept): end-of-glacial sea-level rise ~7–8k years ago flooded a once-inhabited river valley; sudden coastal relocation and the abrupt appearance of advanced settlements on new shores suggest submerged origins.
• Doggerland (North Sea): formerly connected land between Britain and mainland Europe submerged ~8.5k years ago; evidence of submerged settlements exists, and an underwater landslide (Storrega/Storegga) likely generated massive tsunamis that accelerated inundation.
• Pacific Northwest (1700 CE Cascadia earthquake/tsunami): Indigenous Thunderbird/whale legends correlate to a magnitude ~9 earthquake and tsunami on Jan 26, 1700; Japanese tsunami records helped date and confirm the event.
• Zuni (Southwestern US): myths explaining marine fossils and shells in desert contexts — pre-scientific explanations for encountering ancient sea remains.

Recurring myth motifs and cultural functions

• Survivors: often one family or couple (e.g., man + wife) tasked with preserving life (animals, humans) to repopulate the world.
• Cause/purpose: punishment, purification, a return to primordial waters, angry gods, or a test — myths place moral or cosmological meaning on catastrophic events.
• Practical memory: myths function as cultural “early warnings” (e.g., “if the mountain rumbles, run”) and encode environmental knowledge across generations.
• Variation: some versions emphasize industrious human solutions (e.g., Emperor Yu taming waters) rather than solely divine punishment.

Controversies, limits, and cautions

• Geomythology is promising but contentious: correlating a specific myth to a single geological event can be difficult and uncertain.
• Not every myth contains a verifiable historical kernel — some are symbolic, stylized, or influenced by later cultural contact.
• Missionary and colonial influence can overwrite or reshape indigenous myths, complicating efforts to trace origins.

Notable insights / memorable lines

• “Geomythology: myths may contain eyewitness accounts of natural disasters.” — the episode’s central framing.
• Treat myths as potential data, not merely “false” stories; combining folklore with geoscience can reveal events otherwise unrecorded in the physical record.

Recommendations / next steps for curious listeners

• Read or search for the Black Sea flood hypothesis (Ryan & Pittman) and critiques of it to see the debate.
• Look up Doggerland, the Storegga Slide, and the Cascadia 1700 earthquake for strong examples where myth and geologic evidence intersect.
• Explore geomythology literature and case studies that use sediment cores, submerged archaeology, and historical records to test myths.
• Related Stuff You Should Know episode: “Was There a Real Atlantis?” — another geomythology-adjacent discussion.

Conclusion

Flood myths are widespread because humans everywhere have experienced catastrophic water events, encoded those experiences with moral and cosmological meaning, and passed them down. Geomythology provides a structured, interdisciplinary way to treat myths as possible records of real events, revealing how oral traditions and hard science can inform each other — while also reminding us to be cautious about over-simplified, single-cause explanations (like a literal global flood).