Saved by Prashanth Narayan and
"The Danger of a Single Story"
We are always telling stories, whether we realize it or not. We might as well get good at it. Good stories win people over. They provoke and inspire and inflame the human spirit. It’s a tremendous source of power.
visakan veerasamy • a matryoshka of possibilities
Stories function like the streetlight in a moral as well as a practical sense. The light illuminates those who are good, who count, who should be thought of as ‘us’; it leaves in the darkness those who are bad, who don’t matter, who can be dismissed as ‘them.’ American linguist and political scientist George Lakoff calls this effect ‘framing,’ and
... See moreJon Alexander • Citizens: Why the Key to Fixing Everything is All of Us
Unlike factual text or legal documents, which benefit from being inscribed, a story once written down — even one rich in analogy and metaphor that holds within it multiple levels of meaning — can, over time, become believed to be literally true, offer “right” or “wrong” answers, and stipulate ways of thinking or belief as well as modes of behavior,... See more
Sally Mallam • The Written Word
In the end, it is the stories we tell ourselves which are the dangerous ones, the ones that kill us or save us
Anthony Capella • The Various Flavours Of Coffee
These Old Stories continue to infect our collective imagination, distorting how we see and value different groups, cultures, and worldviews. They even warp our conception of “human nature”—selfish, not altruistic; competitive, not cooperative; hardwired, not adaptable. They presuppose a fixed genetic or cultural predisposition that ignores the plas
... See moreRuha Benjamin • Imagination: A Manifesto (A Norton Short)
Stories have also been used for evil. They have been used for the denigration, the demonisation, and the extermination of peoples.