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"Are species or cultures that don't need stories somehow inferior?" Can you point to any human cultures that don't? I'd argue that storytelling of some kind is
by benbreen 11y ago
"Are species or cultures that don't need stories somehow inferior?"
Can you point to any human cultures that don't? I'd argue that storytelling of some kind is integral to what makes us human, and that that propensity toward abstract thought and creativity really does make us "better" than other species, in at least one cognitive sense (though naturally I'm biased by being a human and if I were, say, a hyperintelligent squid or AI that somehow didn't think abstractly, it's possible to judge it differently).
- empthought 11y agoWhy don't the observational investigations of science count as stories for this purpose—with the added bonus that they're not pointless woo or social indoctrination, but rather the closest thing to objective fact that humanity as a collective has learned? For example, the "story" that all life on earth is descended from a single ancestor, and that we are all distant cousins with a pine tree, a wasp, and a cow, is quite compelling.
- zaccus 11y agoBecause the fact that I'm distant cousins with a pine tree, while compelling, is inherently meaningless. Science is a method for achieving a better understanding of the empirical world, but it doesn't begin to address crucial parts of lived experience such as: What is my place within my community? What is the point of me being alive right now? What is 'good'? Stuff like that. I'm sure you could come up with science-y answers for these questions, but those answers would ultimately be yours, subject to your own experience and judgement. There's no empirical, scientifically objective way to approach these things. That's why religion is still a thing, and why we need stories.