I have to admit that your comment makes a lot of sense from within the rationalist perspective. I just think that the rationalist perspective is quite myopic when it comes to the value of stories. You say:
While this may be a perfectly useful definition in some contexts, it is useless for the kind of debiasing move which moridinamael was talking about. In the context of that conversation, it seems better to interpret “narrative” as a description which is specifically warped by optimizing it to fit the biases of the brain particularly well, as a kind of superstimulus.
You seem to see narrative structures as being useful only as a stimulus [1]. Epistemologically you are using the word ‘warped’ and ‘bias’ that, in my view, betrays your own belief system. A hypothesis that you might want to entertain is that stories contain truths (wisdom) that can not always be rationally articulated, at least for now. That does not mean that all stories contain wisdom, just like statements that presume to be rational do not necessarily achieve their goal. By studying stories you will develop the capacity to understand/obtain wisdom. In other words the stories themselves contain the elements needed to understand them and distinguish wisdom from superstition.
Here is a story through which you can reflect on some aspects of your situation:
There is more Light here
Someone saw Nasrudin searching for something on the ground.
‘What have you lost, Mulla?’ he asked. ‘My key,’ said the Mulla. So they both went down on their knees and looked for it.
After a time the other man asked: ‘Where exactly did you drop it?’
‘In my own house.’
‘Then why are you looking here?’
‘There is more light here than inside my own house.’
[ from Idries Shah—The Exploits of the Incomparable Mulla Nasrudin ]
I do recommend Idries Shah’s books of stories. The Nasrudin books are a good start for most people.
------------------------------------------
[1] I have to acknowledge here that Valentine seems to treat stories in a similar manner so your comment is definitely justified. I am here expanding on why I believe this to be a restrictive way of thinking.
I have to admit that your comment makes a lot of sense from within the rationalist perspective. I just think that the rationalist perspective is quite myopic when it comes to the value of stories. You say:
You seem to see narrative structures as being useful only as a stimulus [1]. Epistemologically you are using the word ‘warped’ and ‘bias’ that, in my view, betrays your own belief system. A hypothesis that you might want to entertain is that stories contain truths (wisdom) that can not always be rationally articulated, at least for now. That does not mean that all stories contain wisdom, just like statements that presume to be rational do not necessarily achieve their goal. By studying stories you will develop the capacity to understand/obtain wisdom. In other words the stories themselves contain the elements needed to understand them and distinguish wisdom from superstition.
Here is a story through which you can reflect on some aspects of your situation:
I do recommend Idries Shah’s books of stories. The Nasrudin books are a good start for most people.
------------------------------------------
[1] I have to acknowledge here that Valentine seems to treat stories in a similar manner so your comment is definitely justified. I am here expanding on why I believe this to be a restrictive way of thinking.