“Wow this person is a genius for pointing out how we are doing society incorrectly. How could anyone have guessed at this over and over again for centuries? We should teach this to our children in school and then absolutely savage them as adults for believing it.”
People need to stop saying this shit. When Joseph Campbell wrote Hero with a Thousand Faces, it was from his limited point of view and selectively chose or changed details on the subjects he picked. It wasn’t true then, and it’s even less true now.
He was acknowledging a common trend between many works involving a hero. It is similar to the three acts of a story, which is also not completely universal, just really common. He also applied it with some heavy squinting so what he was looking at fit into his box, more so than being selective about the works.
It works as one version of a story of self discovery, but I can’t think of any that have every step in his journey. Many have a number of parts but mostly the basic ideas that person growth requires outside input and changes based on experiences. If it wasn’t so rigid it would be far more informative.