I saw @BarackObama speak in Chicago a couple of weeks ago. He said that he didn’t watch cable news when he was POTUS because everything on there was stuff he had learned a long time before it was on TV. https://t.co/9skSSSVQib
— Julie Bosman (@juliebosman) December 23, 2017
Stephen Greenblatt, with an op-ed in the NYTimes:
… [A] team of researchers has published, in the peer-edited journal Nature Communications, the results of an extensive study of storytelling among the Agta, a contemporary population of hunter-gatherers in the Philippines. The lesson: Stories matter.
Scientists are fascinated by the few groups of hunter-gatherers remaining on the planet, since it is thought that they reflect our species’ earliest successful way of life, before the invention of agriculture. They are closely studied to solve a riddle that has long puzzled evolutionary biologists: How did humans learn cooperative behavior such as food-sharing, the care of others, the coordination of tasks, the acceptance of social norms? The answer, it seems, has everything to do with the stories we tell.
As is typical among bands of foragers, Agta stories emphasize the values of gender equality, friendship and the social acceptance of difference. Consider the following myth: “There is a dispute between the sun (male) and the moon (female) to illuminate the sky. After a fight, where the moon proves to be as strong as the sun, they agree in sharing the duty — one during the day and the other during the night.” The research established that individuals who live in camps with a greater proportion of skilled storytellers cooperate more readily with one another and are therefore more successful in their foraging.
The Agta themselves are fully aware of the benefits conferred upon them by the best makers and performers of stories. When asked to choose with whom they would most like to live, they overwhelmingly favored gifted storytellers over those who were known for their skill in hunting, fishing, tuber gathering or medicine. Life, most of those polled agreed, is simply better in the company of good stories…
Yeah, well, the people responsible for the “reporting” on the front pages of the NYTimes would probably tell you (if they were forced into honesty) that the stories they tell its readers have produced exactly the results they intended. But then, quite possibly, they’d be lying to themselves… again.
Quick story: Let me tell you about the democrat I support in 2018.
They're they ones with the (D) in front of their name on the ballot.
That's my litmus test.
/1— Steve Marmel (@Marmel) December 23, 2017
I don't care where a D is on the spectrum as long as they caucus with a democrat majority and begin to unwind the damage done by Trump, McConnell and Ryan.
I don't care what you call yourself.
If you win, and you're (D) and you can flip a seat, you have my support.
/4— Steve Marmel (@Marmel) December 23, 2017
So today, realizing we are less than a year from the 2018 election, that's where I stand.
Every (D) candidate, good luck.
Anybody who can cut the Trump cancer from our Democracy, I'm for you.
Let's get registered.
Let's be prepared.
And Stay Angry.
We have work to do.
/X— Steve Marmel (@Marmel) December 23, 2017
Wednesday Morning Open Thread: The Stories We Tell Each OtherPost + Comments (128)