How Telling Stories Makes Us Human
Evolutionary psychologists propose that storytelling has an adaptive function: it helps us make sense of non-routine, uncertain or novel situations collectively (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov). We tell stories to each other to explain the unexplainable, to find patterns in chaos, and to navigate uncertainty together. In a complex world, stories that reflec
... See moreFrom a human standpoint, stories are both fun to make and fun to tell. They make us feel good. From a business standpoint, stories that make us feel good get told and told again. Fans pass their experiences along to future fans, who then have the opportunity to create stories of their own.
Jesse Cole • Fans First
Storytelling is a primal instinct (people have been telling stories much, much longer than they’ve been reading or writing about them)
Brian Norgard • The Pomp Podcast on Apple Podcasts
The Science of Storytelling: Why Stories Make Us Human, and How to Tell Them Better
Will Storr • 21 highlights
amazon.com
In books such as The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human by Jonathan Gottschall, there is copious research about how story sets us humans apart from animals. Even in our dreams, our subconscious is busy ordering events into narratives.