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In an idea-riffy mood this afternoon, thinking about narratives.
For whatever reason, humans seem to be wired for narratives. We’re susceptible to them, dependent on them.
This seems true whether or not we’re aware of it, and whether or not we explicitly articulate it
For whatever reason, humans seem to be wired for narratives. We’re susceptible to them, dependent on them.
This seems true whether or not we’re aware of it, and whether or not we explicitly articulate it
Alan Watts had many great riffs on this, eg “we are all constantly telling each other who we are”. There’s a finite/infinite, living/dead component to this - many play within boundaries, some play *with* boundaries. Hit “inspect element” and mess around
Everything in our lives is either a part or potentially a part of the story we tell ourselves about who we are and what it’s all about. Every object, person, relationship, idea, thought, memory - all are bits in a larger story we get to write and edit
An observation that used to distress me: many people seem quite content to outsource their meaning-making to others. To families, peer group, communities, nations, institutions, authorities. I guess it works well enough for them. It’s never worked for me
Why think abt this now? I think it’s bc I feel like I’m at a threshold - I feel like the experiences I’ve had, the people I’ve met, etc don’t fit neatly into my existing narrative. I feel like I’m due for some narrative refactoring. Happens every few years
IMO many people get quite attached to their narratives, and they discard, avoid or ignore data that violates their narrative(s). The narrative is tied to their identity, & change literally hurts. For me it’s the other way around: narrative stagnation hurts
