How Do Memories Change Your Brain?

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Fiction is valuable because it has an enormously powerful effect on us that we realize is fictional. What happens when someone writes a memoir and then says, this actually happens when it didn't? It's the same thing that a religion is doing, is they're passing off something as true when it's not. We need to have the courage to pull it back and say, things can have value even if they're not true. Fictions can have value in the same way that rige has value. And i think you should go and watch hamlet and be like, this isn't real, but it's powerful.

Michael speaks with neuroscientist and literature professor Dr. Angus Fletcher about 25 of the most powerful developments in the history of literature, from ancient Mesopotamia to Elena Ferrante. Fletcher says these literary technologies can alleviate grief, trauma, loneliness, anxiety, numbness, depression, pessimism, and ennui — all while sparking creativity, courage, love, empathy, hope, joy, and positive change. Fletcher is a professor of story science at Ohio State’s Project Narrative, the world’s leading academic think-tank for the study of stories. His research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.