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[SOLVED] Why do stories have such effect on us? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

30 comments fedilink hide all child comments

All religions have it's own myths, own stories, own set of values. And these are/were good stories, I mean, even though they are not true, they are certainly interesting. You won't feel bored by it.

Harry Potter has the same effect on people, like, why should I take Harry Potter seriously, why do I care what happens after Dumbledore dances with Snape (won't give actual spoilers :')

I mean, it doesn't make sense to me. Why do I care so much about a soap opera that I am watching. Harry Potter is the product of just one brilliant woman's imagination. It has no real value on my life. I have no real motivation to read that other than the fact that I like it and I want to know. Harry Potter is somewhat irrelevant to my life, than why does it or any other good story capture our imagination?

Why do I care what the next season of House M.D. entails? Why? What should I care if he dies or lives? Why :')?

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[–] [email protected] 38 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I'm not a sociologist, but it's worth noting that for many thousands of years, humans passed on knowledge by story telling. If you had zero interest in listening to elders telling stories, you were less likely to learn important stuff, and so less likely to survive. It seems likely that we're naturally selected to be interested in stories.

But, in the same way that craving sweets used to drive people to eat fruit, but now that same urge drives us to eat candy, our inclination to listen to stories gets people to watch soap operas or marvel movies, which isn't exactly improving our chance of survival.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

thank you! that makes sense

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

No it doesn’t. Evolution is an explanation for species to adjust to the environment . This comment says “the environment was stories”. But how our ancestors developed the habit of story telling in the first place is still unexplained with this little piece of fiction.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

But that doesn’t explain why stories were the form to convey information in the first place.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

It sort of does. Groups who told stories and listened to stories survived better than other groups. It doesn't matter that there might have been another way to pass on information, that one worked and helped the group thrive. Lots of different animals solve the same issue in different ways - evolution doesn't care.