Читать книгу Figure It Out - Stephen P. Anderson - Страница 62

So what do we do with all this? What role do stories and narrative play in our broader purpose—understanding?

As social creatures, the pull toward narrative associations is a powerful—perhaps inescapable—one. What we’ve believed for years, that science is starting to explain, is that narratives are powerful vehicles for discovering or transferring critical information in a compelling way. If our goal is understanding, then knowing how and why stories work can help in this respect. We can use narrative with intention, to create empathy, or to bridge the unknown with known. We’ve seen this for years with inspiring speakers, leaders, teachers, and many other professions where stories are critical vehicles for passing on information. With incredibly difficult and contentious topics, we’ve seen great orators who— rather than argue about facts and details—seek only to change your overarching frame. Succeed at changing someone’s frame of reference—or at least get them to open up to another way of seeing things differently—and the individual is left to sort out the details. But it’s not just the literal stories.