Modern nation states cannot ask people to die anymore, for a king or glory or whatever. Modern nation states ask people to die for a story, for an ideal. The reason why we're asked to die all the time by nation states is for a story, a collective story that we all believe in, that we think is worth it. It's not pros and cons, it's not economic analysis; ultimately when you ask people to make these great sacrifices, they have to believe in the story.

I've recently been thinking a lot about why some people are so effective at building teams, getting people excited, and inspiring many people to achieve the impossible. What makes them so magnetic and charismatic? What about them makes people want to follow them into such a daunting task?

It's their ability to tell stories.

Humans are incredibly good tool-builders. Stories may, in fact, be the most powerful tool we've ever created.

The Power of Stories

Stories are incredibly important in helping us make sense of the world and ourselves. So much so that when an event occurs, we can't make sense of it unless it fits neatly into a narrative.

Often, the universe seems like nothing more than one meaningless random event after another. To live in such an unfeeling entity seems so bleak and incomprehensible that we try to explain reality as a linear chain of cause and effect events with meaning. Most information that's not woven as an interesting story or fit people's preconceived narratives will be ignored and forgotten.

However, this narrative fallacy simplifies the actual truth. Those well-constructed plots and satisfying character arcs make it so very enticing to believe in, but ultimately, these stories often can't be used to seek truth or predict the future.

It's important to note that just because stories aren't a 1:1 representation of reality, it doesn't mean that stories aren't useful or don't touch upon some aspect of the truth. In fact, they are vital in teaching us about ourselves, empathizing with others, capturing our imaginations, and galvanizing us to do incredible things.

Stories are the essence of memory, inspiration, and action.

There are certain aspects and tools of storytelling that make it so powerful:

Plot

Well-constructed plots are great tools for immersing us in another world and forcing us to reckon with difficult decisions.

Reading 1984 forced many of us to grapple with the implications of an all-powerful government, question if we ever fall into groupthink ourselves, and guard us against similar dangers in our own lives.

Science fiction stories, by focusing on a new piece of technology, force people to grapple with what a future with this technology looks like and how we should interact with it. In fact, many leaders and technologists today cite science fiction stories as inspiration for creating a specific technology or regulating and using it a certain way.

The plots that drive these stories don't predict the future, but affect people so deeply that they shape and make the future.

Character Arcs

Characters' struggles, decisions, and interactions with others help us learn more about ourselves, others, our values, and how we want to live our lives.

Mad Men shows how heavily people can be affected by their pasts and all the self-destructive ways that they try to deal with it.

Heartbreaking memoirs of soldiers illustrate not only how terrible war can be, but also how people can either overcome such hopeless situations or become damaged for life.

Such stories can help us empathize with others, understand more about ourselves, and teach us what not to do, affecting our everyday actions.

Heroism

... Man has a heroic streak in himself. Man is not satisfied with a happy idyllic life; he has the need to fight and encounter danger.

Stories also satiate our need for heroism. Many stories weave together these tales of bravery, struggle, and drama of epic proportions. We live vicariously through the characters in these stories and we're inspired or horrified by the worlds they create and the choices they make.

These stories ultimately shape and form our own actions, aspirations, and dreams. The characters in these tales can give us courage to follow our own dreams. In these ways, stories can become self-fulfilling prophecies; the fact that we believe in them can be enough to make it true. They literally shape our society.

Stories Are Everywhere

Stories aren't relegated to just book, movies, and TV shows. They are quite literally everywhere because of how effective they are as a tool in engaging and invigorating people:

• Religion: Religious texts espouse many values and move people through a wide array of epic tales and stories. These values and tenets wouldn't be remembered nearly as strongly if it wasn't for epic plots and interesting characters to deliver them.
  • Bible: Adam and Eve
  • Bhagavad Gita: epic stories of war between gods and rakshasas
• Geopolitics: Leaders of state and government craft narratives about other countries and deploy them as propaganda to rally a nation to war. There may be hidden agendas like acquiring natural resources or hurting another country by proxy, but countries will often paint many stories claiming that this conflict will affirm our values, freeing an underdeveloped nation, or serve as an inspiration to our future generations.
  • Colonialism: Britain invading many countries in the past to "free and save" the uncivilized masses
  • USA vs. China and Russia: framed as a clash between democracy and authoritarian values (good vs. bad guys)
• Companies: Companies put together grand mission statements as the driving force behind their work. They weave together stories of a better world or utopia they're creating, giving their employees a noble purpose in their work and enhancing their productivity.
  • Nike: "Bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world. If you have a body, you are an athlete."
  • Spotify: "To unlock the potential of human creativity — by giving a million creative artists the opportunity to live off their art and billions of fans the opportunity to enjoy and be inspired by it."
• Conspiracy theories: People often create elaborate conspiracy theories as an attempt to explain the unknown. We cannot stand not knowing something and in doing so, we'll guess at what the truth is through an elaborate story, no matter how little evidence there is or far away from the actual truth it is. These conspiracies told in the form of stories can be a mechanism to move the masses to a particular viewpoint, galvanize action, and establish some semblance of control in people's lives.
  • Moon Landing: it was an elaborate hoax by the US government to stifle Russian competition and "win" the Cold War.
  • Covid: it was a plot by Bill Gates to vaccinate the world's population and control them through microchips.
• Sports: Sports networks and leagues create and manufacture storylines all the time. Two teams being pitted against each other are often framed as a version of David v. Goliath, a player's story is framed many times as a rags to riches story, and trash-talking dialogue between athletes is used to play up the stakes of their matchups. These stories give us something to cheer for and inspire us, significantly increasing the amount of people tuning in and engaging with the sport.
  • NFL: the perfect-record goliath: 2007 Patriots facing off against the underdog: New York Giants
  • WWE: trash talking stage

Stories are the most powerful and prevalent tool we have at our disposal. They can galvanize action and shape humanity and our actions like nothing else. They help us make sense of this unfeeling universe and ourselves and other people. However, they are imprecise in seeking truth and predicting the future. They can also be used to inspire people to do terrible things. How we live out our lives and shape our futures is dependent on the stories we tell to each other.