Storytelling

we next explored whether storytelling does in fact promote cooperation. Nearly 300 Agta, from 18 separate camps, were asked to name the best storytellers. To assess cooperation, individuals were also asked to play a simple resource allocation game where players were given a number of tokens (representing rice) and asked to distribute these between ... See more

the linear, cumulative mode of gathering knowledge is again contrasted with a holistic and tacit mode which can appear only when consciousness is organized differently.

The brain, it seems, does not make much of a distinction between reading about an experience and encountering it in real life; in each case, the same neurological regions are stimulated.

Once written down, epic tales can become a fixed narrative of events that people take literally

A study published in February 2012 at Emory University found that a region of the brain important for sensing texture through touch, called the parietal operculum, is also activated when someone listens to a sentence with a description of texture, but only if a metaphor is used

Brain scans are revealing what happens in our heads when we read a detailed description, an evocative metaphor or an emotional exchange between characters. Stories, this research is showing, stimulate the brain and even change how we act in life.

The power of archetypes lies in their universality. Since they tap into the collective unconscious, they evoke deep emotional and psychological responses. When a story employs these archetypes, it feels instantly familiar, almost as if it’s a tale we’ve known all our lives. This familiarity breeds connection, making the narrative more engaging and ... See more

Many wars in history were fought over stories

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

“The human mind is a story processor, not a logic processor.” Jonathan Haidt, The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion