“Insightful...draws from disparate corners of history and science to
celebrate our compulsion to storify everything around us.”—The New
York Times Book Review Humans live in landscapes of make-believe.
We spin fantasies. We devour novels, films, and plays. Even sporting
events and criminal trials unfold as narratives. Yet the world of
story has remained an undiscovered and unmapped country. It’s easy
to say that humans are “wired” for story, but why? In this
delightful, original book, Jonathan Gottschall offers the first
unified theory of storytelling. He argues that stories help us
navigate life’s complex social problems—just as flight simulators
prepare pilots for difficult situations. Storytelling has evolved,
like other behaviors, to ensure our survival. Drawing on the latest
research in neuroscience, psychology, and evolutionary biology,
Gottschall tells us what it means to be a storytelling animal. Did you
know that the more absorbed you are in a story, the more it changes
your behavior? That all children act out the same kinds of stories,
whether they grow up in a slum or a suburb? That people who read more
fiction are more empathetic? Of course, our story instinct has a
darker side. It makes us vulnerable to conspiracy theories,
advertisements, and narratives about ourselves that are more
“truthy” than true. National myths can also be terribly dangerous:
Hitler’s ambitions were partly fueled by a story. But as Gottschall
shows, stories can also powerfully change the world for the better. We
know we are master shapers of story. The Storytelling Animal finally
reveals how stories shape us. “Lively.”—San Francisco
Chronicle “Absorbing.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune “One of
my favorite evolutionary psych writers—always insightful and
witty.”—Steven Pinker
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780547644813
Publisert
2016
Utgiver
Vendor
Mariner Books / Open Road Integrated Media
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter