If you want to erect a monument or get a civilization going, it can be helpful to have a slightly narcissistic mythology for a time. And it's what I would consider bad religion is very narcissistic too. There isn't a self respect aspect of it. It's community identity. So you don't really have a who am I? It's a who are we? If we succeed, I succeed.
Martin Starr (Silicon Valley! Freaks and Geeks! Spider-Man!) makes it weird!