"Why does our brain seem to be wired to enjoy stories?" asks Jeremy Hsu, the author of The Power of Storytelling in this summer's Scientific American Mind magazine. "Storytelling is one of the few human traits that are truly universal across culture and through all of known history."
Why?
The science he reports is at a fairly early stage but anything truly universal must reflect something fundamental about mankind.
The article speculates that storytelling gave communities an evolutionary edge. Stories helped members of a community model effective communal behavior, reinforce social norms, and develop empathy. If members understand and have internalized a shared narrative they are more likely to make a community that works.
We know that the enemy lies beyond that wall and logic tells us that it is safer to stay put. But when we hear “Once more, dear friends, into the breach,” the “narrative transport” of the story, its flow of history and meaning makes us more likely to risk death for the defense of our family, our friends and our country.
Over thousands of years the very structure of our brains has formed to respond to storytelling. And, as such, no data, no statistic, no mere fact can match storytelling’s ability to call us to action.
