“Narrative truth” is like “vegetarian meat”. Just as vegetarian meat is not meat, but a substitute for meat, narrative truth is not truth, but a substitute for truth. Vegetarian meat tastes meaty, and narrative truth tastes truthy. Neither need contain any of the thing they are imitating.
Look at the way things like the supposed Dunning-Kruger effect spread like wildfire. That wasn’t because of the data the finders presented, but because of the story it made. People really liked that story. But it seems there is little to support the story.
See also the replication crisis, the phrase “story time!” on Andrew Gelman’s blog, etc. (ETA: And almost every TED or TedX talk ever.) The more coherent and truthy-tasting the story, the more suspicion it should be viewed with.
“Not being persuaded by the narrative” is an epistemic virtue.
“Narrative truth” is like “vegetarian meat”. Just as vegetarian meat is not meat, but a substitute for meat, narrative truth is not truth, but a substitute for truth. Vegetarian meat tastes meaty, and narrative truth tastes truthy. Neither need contain any of the thing they are imitating.
Look at the way things like the supposed Dunning-Kruger effect spread like wildfire. That wasn’t because of the data the finders presented, but because of the story it made. People really liked that story. But it seems there is little to support the story.
See also the replication crisis, the phrase “story time!” on Andrew Gelman’s blog, etc. (ETA: And almost every TED or TedX talk ever.) The more coherent and truthy-tasting the story, the more suspicion it should be viewed with.
“Not being persuaded by the narrative” is an epistemic virtue.