![]() In the experiment, subjects had their brains scanned while they watched a Clint Eastwood Western. Neuroscientist Anne Krendl conducted a study that proved this to be the case. However, even though we know the stories are made up, they still feel real to our brain. You might be thinking, “That’s absurd! How can we possibly practice for real life by dealing with stories that aren’t even true. All the practice they get consuming fictional conflict makes them better at empathizing with others and settling strife. One study found that heavy fiction readers have better social skills than nonfiction readers. These simulations can also improve our social skills. Similarly, we practice real-life problems through stories. Think about it like a flight simulator: pilots use simulated cockpits to practice for real-life flights. With the help of fictional stories, we can explore different ways to react to predicaments and gather experience without ever having to face the real-life consequences.įor instance, simply through imagining, you can experience to a certain degree how you would react if you encountered a tiger in the jungle, or what you would do if you found out that your spouse has been cheating on you. In part, it’s because stories often have real-life applications. So why would evolution make us crave stories? In a world where only the fittest survive, how do stories make us fitter? Evolution made these things enjoyable so that you would survive and procreate. After all, who would want to read a story about someone who spends his entire day lying on a sunny terrace, occasionally grabbing some food from the fridge and going to the bathroom? While this may seem like a desirable way to live, it’s a pretty dull story. In other words: stories are always about trouble. Put simply, a story is about a person who tries to overcome a problem, whether it’s a knight rescuing a princess or Harry Potter battling with Voldemort. Interestingly, these stories all tend to conform to the same structure, no matter where or how you encounter them. All in all, we dream away approximately four hours of every day! According to one study, we experience around a thousand daydreams per day, each lasting an average of about 14 seconds. Rather, we’re constantly spinning them ourselves. ![]() These stories aren’t just something we consume. They follow simple story arcs with typical schemes and conflicts between the protagonist and antagonist, like who slept with whose wife, or who’s the ultimate US patriot. In essence, they look very much like theater plays, just with a little less reflection about life and a lot more violence. Just think, for example, about the way typical pro-wrestling fights are staged. It’s not just that we devour movies, TV shows and novels – we also encounter stories in the form of daydreams or even sports broadcasting. In fact, our lives are totally dominated by made-up stories. These fantasies are all stories, and we’re addicted to them. In the evening it’s attending class at Hogwarts, and at night it tries to escape the jaws of brain-hungry zombies. While you’re at work, your mind is stretched out on faraway beaches. Whether you’re aware of it or not, your brain spends a fair amount of its time far removed from real life.
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