Mythos & Symbolic Humanity: Paired Literary–Scientific Visions — Language, Stone-Shaping, and the Birth of Culture

Michael A. Susko holds degrees in Philosophy and Counseling Psychology and has long pursued interdisciplinary inquiry at the intersection of science, culture, and imagination. He has taught courses in Indigenous studies, dream symbolism, and the evolution of human consciousness, and helped to found a charter school that integrated the arts and sciences with a strong emphasis on experiential learning.

His work spans literary fiction, cultural history, and scientific synthesis. Drawing on experiences in mental health advocacy, arts education, and cross-cultural service—including visits to a remote Guatemalan village through a Sister Parish Project—the author brings a grounded, human perspective to big-picture thinking.

This volume, Mythos & Symbolic Humanity, pairs research-informed narrative with scholarly synthesis to explore the deep-time evolution of symbolic behavior. Through ten fictional novellas and a complementary scientific framework, he traces how toolmaking, fire, and communication shaped the symbolic lineage of our species—offering both an imaginative and evidence-based journey through the unfolding of time.