i'm interested to hear more about this - what do you mean by "getting people out of storytelling", and why is doing so desirable?
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@ParadoxNow_ talks about how storytelling can be a means for transformative growth, and how stories usually have some hidden truth.
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supports and underpins this view with his own experience & example.
I think I agree with both of those things, as stated.
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What I'm struggling with here, is that it seems especially hard not just to get people to abandon stories (bad, for reasons I'll touch on),-
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- but that getting any traction at all in changing the thrust of those stories is nigh-impossible, even with empathy & opportunity.
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Storytelling is inextricably linked with survival. Without a story to tell, people die. No meaning -> no reason to live.
No conflict there.
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So we need stories and I'm not saying we should get rid of those, just so we're clear. I don't think that's desirable.
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We use stories to get around the world, define ourselves against others, try to understand ourselves and countless more things, obviously.
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The problem is some of these stories are poisonous, to ourselves, others or both.
E.g. "I'm all that matters," the story of a sociopath.
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Let's return to heuristics. Stories are heuristical. They teach general truths at the cost of precision when applied to individual cases.
Heuristics are fucking awesome. Without them we wouldn't be much good at making decisions.
But they work over an array of situations.
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When we try to use a heuristic to explain discrete situations instead of to steer habits & responses, they break down.
It's not their job.
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