People continually underestimate the power of the narrative. Humans want to see things in terms of stories, of drama, heroes, and so forth. Even if the underly

People continually underestimate the power of the narrative. Humans want to see things in terms of stories, of drama, heroes, and so forth. Even if the underlying history doesn't fit the narrative, allowance will be made so that it does. The story wins out over all else. This is why the internet meme is so powerful. Nobody steals your kidneys and leaves you in a bathtub, but it makes for a helluva great story. Bill Gates isn't giving away money for emails, but wouldn't it be awesome if he was? I could probably put together a list of 100 Hollywood movies that purposefully destroy the truth just in order to sell more movie tickets. And people love it. (sidebar: "Big Fish" is a great movie about this topic) Movies will even go to great lengths to reassure you that they are telling a true story -- then bullshit the hell out of you. People know that they're stretching and murdering the truth, but guess what? They don't care. A good story is much more interesting than what actually happened, or some cold collection of facts. And I think 3 centuries is being generous. Most times this begins way before the people involved die. There are many people alive today trying to restore in the public's mind what actually happened, instead of what the public believes happened through consuming some terrific story.