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The ability to see through stories is rightfully appreciated as something powerful, bordering on reality manipulation. See how the narcissistic or psychopathic types seek it as a specific power? Yet it's also a completely worthless power.

It's like watching yourself type. It's magic b/c of all that muscle memory. "I" just hold the intention and my trained fingers do the rest. "I" can ONLY hold intention. If I try to manipulate the story directly I've fallen back into becoming the character.

This immersion trick allows us to model others and work together as well as rapidly learn from another. It also allows games and movies to be enjoyed (and created!). It allows the future to be predicted and written, and the past to be mourned and learned from.

If I focus purely on my fingers typing the keys I can become "one" with the instrument. It can be very fun. E.g. with a musical instrument it's like you 'become' the music. However, it's not possible to simultaneous to be in this state AND be authoring the future.

Becoming "one" with a situation often requires repetition within a bounded domain. E.g. it's a piece you've practiced a lot before. In games like basketball you repeat the same basic setup over and over again and become "one" w/ the game during flow states.

Flow states are fun but they are about FULL identification with the character. They don't offer an escape as the author can never fully embody the character. The seeking of longer and longer flow states can often be a trap similar to drug addicts seeking high after high.

Full identification with a character without first achieving the author/character distinction can be dangerous. Characters are often imperfect, with suppressed violent thoughts, urges, and desires for power.

To desire a 100% flow state strongly means to fully embody a sociopathic character WITHOUT having the ability to return to the author state. I can fully immerse myself going on on a killing rampage as the god of war as long as I can trust myself to remember that it's a GAME.

If I can "level up" my real life character to have all the right equipment and powers like: charismatically friends w/ everyone, makes lots of easy money, never gets angry, always content, etc... then 100% flow state immersion is great. As the author I throw away the pen.

Yet stories don't work this way. Even if my character achieves these states there has to be *some* sort of story involving these powers overcoming some problem. "Life is suffering" is just saying "Stories need conflict"

Throwing away the pen is the equivalent of dying. It's like how when people commit suicide they first wrap up their life, giving away things, organizing, etc... It's wrapping up the loose ends of the story and preparing to put down the pen.

Becoming the author doesn't give you super powers. You can't suddenly become rich, you can't avoid heart attacks or avoid being unfairly criticized. But it's possible to fake it till you make it through the power of story telling. Especially when we share our stories.

If I feel hopeless in my situation I can read a story about how someone similar in my situation made it out. By writing the story, the author is imbued with aspects of the character b/c modeling the character is part and parcel of writing the story.

Lone-wolf authors can create resolutions to situations that no one else using hackneyed plot devices can think of. They constantly add to the collective story telling arsenal. If one happens to solve the Big Expensive Plot Issue of the day they are hailed as a genius.

These plot devices can be very specific. E.g. the story of a white kid being raised by loving parents learning tons of knowledge on the internet. It's not possible to extract the "free knowledge on the internet" part of the story and shove it into a black kids exp in the hood.

They *are* however flexible in a metaphorical way. Miles Morales as spiderman for example offers an incredible beacon of light for those living in conditions of self-doubt and bad influences.

It resonates with EVERYONE too. If it resonates specifically with black kids it's b/c of the relative vacuum and lack of similar role models before.

This would be a steelman for surface level terrible casting decisions like a black achilles. It's a noble but hamfisted attempt at being Hamilton. If it doesn't detract, why NOT tell it in a way that gives extra oomph to those who need it?

If the argument is "My kid won't get the same inspiration if the main character is Black/Yellow/Brown/etc.." then maybe you're projecting b/c the story you've written has too many Black/Yellow/Brown people as the bad guys?

Not that such people should be judged. Especially as we're constantly running propaganda against each other. If I grew up with the message "X is BAD BAD BAD" then can you blame "me" for disliking X-like things?

There would've been immense social pressure to have my story be filled with bad guys that looked a certain way and did certain things. Certain people also HAD to be the good guy and win in certain ways.