Random Thoughts of a Mythology Nerd

Fairy tales, folklore, myths
These are the things that make up half of any cultural society and feeds the imagination of anyone who hears them. And yet, while they fill you with fanciful images of dragons, fey, creatures of the deep, fair maidens and knights in shinning armor, one question remains.
In this day and age, one looks at these myths and legends and sees the scribbling of a superstitious age but there is always that part of you, the part that gets goosebumps when you hear the ghost story around the camp fire, the part that jumps during a scary movie, the part that is still just a little scared of the dark. That part that asks what if . . .
What if there was more to the story than what was written, what if those creatures were real at one point or another, what if there were dragons and werewolves, mermaids and sea serpents?
What if?
It's this question that most today avoid and brush away with their "science", and yet all science started out the same way, with a little imagination. our universe was literally dreamed up by Giordano Bruno, confirmed by Issac Newton and then broken down into a mathematical formula by Albert Einstein, and all they had was a telescope and the imagination to think beyond their societies limits. They asked what if?
Yet even with all our "scientific" knowledge in this day and age, much of our Earth has yet to be explored, in fact we have only been able to explore roughly 95% of our oceans, how do we know there aren't creatures that could possibly be considered mermaids by a primitive culture down in the dark and briny depths?
We humans, in general suffer from the fatal flaw of hubris, thinking that we are God's greatest creation and that because we have risen above our primitive urges (for the most part) we can conquer anything. Careful, humanity, be mindful of the tales and stories, the proud are often those that are targeted by wrathful deities and monsters of the night. Arrogance will be the downfall of man, for those who pay little attention to history are doomed to repeat it. Much of what our ancestors said is truly superstitious, like the black cat, but think about this.
Where did the stories come from? If those creatures and events were only hearsay, then, pray tell, why do we have such detailed accounts, descriptions? If it was just imaginary then why were they regarded with fear? why caution your children to watch out for these beings? And lastly, if these creatures are imaginary, then why would different variation of the same creature exist all around the world? The world was considered flat and North America hadn't been discovered, yet in Native American culture and in European folklore, well before Columbus's time, there are tales of men and women turning into animals, the Native American's called them skin-walkers, while in Europe, they were referred to as werewolves or shapeshifters.
Think about that before you brush off those legends as mere fantasy.