We Want All Our Stories to Be True

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In the modern world, we want all our stories to be true. And i see very little acknowledgment of this fact anywhere on the political spectrum,. relentlessly attacking the other side, not turning it on ourselves. I wonder, do you ever have that question yourself? Is there any one who finds it easy to recognize that they're lost inside a story? We are made of star stuff. The cosmos is within us.

Humans are storytelling animals. Stories are what make our societies possible. Countless books celebrate their virtues. But Jonathan Gottschall, an expert on the science of stories, argues that there is a dark side to storytelling we can no longer ignore. Storytelling, the very tradition that built human civilization, may be the thing that destroys it.

In The Story Paradox, Gottschall explores how a broad consortium of psychologists, communications specialists, neuroscientists, and literary quants are using the scientific method to study how stories affect our brains.

In this conversation based on his new book, Gottschall reveals why our biggest asset has become our greatest threat, and what, if anything, can be done. It is a call to stop asking, “How we can change the world through stories?” and start asking, “How can we save the world from stories?”