Joel Langerak

Prof. Heetebrij
CAS 180
9/18/2015
Storytelling Animal Chapter 3
Summary:
The point of this chapter was to get across that trouble makes for a good
story. All the good stories have good conflict in them. Even if a story had very
eloquent language or was extremely happy the whole was through, no one would
read it because it isnt interesting. People have written books like this as
experiments, such as James Joyces Finnegans Wake. Another type of story people
wouldnt want to read is their own, a very realistic story. Nothing much at all
happens in a given day most of the time so the reader would get very bored very
quickly.
Another part of this chapter talks about how people tend to mirror emotions.
When watching a movie, our hearts follow the way the main character feels. When
he is happy, so are we; when he is sad, so are we. Neuroscientists say it is because
we simulate the other persons mind. With all that simulation from watching or
reading so much fiction, people sometimes think that those kinds of people would
be better at solving real life problems should they arise. While this is a cool theory,
there are a lot of holes, a couple of them being that fiction is a terrible guide to real
life and a lot of times we cannot remember well enough the conflict and resolution
the work of fiction had.
Questions:
1. Does our love of the struggles of characters in fiction have something to say
about human nature? Are we evil inherently?
2. Do we secretly wish conflict to happen in our own lives?
3. Would someone be better off or worse if they didnt read or watch all this
conflict in stories?
Reflection:
There is a quote on page 56 that suggests humans were shaped by story. I
can see this theory at work in my own life. For example, a lot of times growing up
when my parents told me not to do something, a story usually went along with why

it was a bad idea. Whether it was something they did themselves or heard of
someone doing it didnt matter, it got the point across far better than just simple
warning.
This also works with stories I have experienced for myself. I rarely leave the
house without checking my brakes first because a couple years ago I was driving
and my brakes went out on the highway coming up to a red light. That story flashes
before my eyes, how I felt panicked, how I would have flew out into traffic had I not
turned my car into a ditch. The memory of how I felt shaped the way I act to this
day. And this is the same with a lot of near tragedies I have experienced.