The question, “why fiction?” has very much been on my mind lately, and it’s one of these things that, again, is so big, and so obvious that most people just don’t think about it. It seems obvious to people that human beings love stories. But if you think about it, it’s not at all obvious that human beings should love stories, especially fictional stories. If you imagine us, as hunter-gatherers out on the savannah, life is very hard, narrow margins, and you would think that you’re better off going without story. It’s a lot of time and a lot of energy spent on story.
Combining science and humanities, answering the question, “why stories?,” and discussing total disciplinary upheaval. Just another conversation with Jonathan Gottschall.
