Stories don't need the five Ws and one H. If it sounds plausible, that's enough, and persuasion depends on the speaker's authority and eloquence. You don't even need to think of old tales. Just think about the stories floating around between people.
When people hear some story, they love to say 'that makes sense' or 'no way'. Sometimes the truth sounds, at a first listen, like nonsense. Such truth has weak life as a story. This phenomenon — in which stories exert more power than the truth — is called 'story bias'. (p. 205)
"I haven't bought it yet, but personally I'm very much looking forward to this book.
I'm still in the middle of another book, so I plan to buy it once I finish. Even after briefly flipping through it at the bookstore, the impression stays.
I was going through Ye Byung-il's past Economic Notes I'd missed, and I was so glad to see this that I'm jotting a few lines.
Interest in 'storytelling' is high.
Companies use it heavily in marketing. That's probably because it works.
There is a term called 'story bias'. It refers to the phenomenon where a story wields more power than the truth. It's a word that shows how much influence stories have over us humans. Since primitive times, humans have learned and survived through stories. Letters, logic, and statistics are recent things in human history. Maybe that's why — we're drawn to plausible stories more than abstract facts.
Daniel Kahneman described one experiment in his book. It took place in 1982, with experts gathered at an international conference on future studies. One group received the forecast scenario "In 1983, oil consumption will drop 30%." The other group got the scenario "In 1983, a dramatic rise in oil prices will cause oil consumption to drop 30%."
The second group believed the forecast much more strongly, the survey found. The explanation: the 'dramatic rise in oil prices' story was added.
That's why the words below from Rolf Dobelli are striking.
"People feel resistance toward abstract facts, but are instinctively drawn to stories. That is the curse. So unimportant perspectives push important ones out, creating a distortion that undervalues what matters. Intuitive thinking is vulnerable to plausible stories. Please try not to be swayed by stories that fit together like a drama when you're making important decisions."
"Those who are enthralled by stories fail," said Columbia Business School's Prof. Michael Mauboussin.
The reverse must also hold.
Stories, storytelling — if you get swept along by someone else's story, it's dangerous; if you can enchant others with your story, opportunity opens. Storytelling is a topic that demands wise responses depending on the position you stand in.
Source: Ye Byung-il's Economic Notes
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