I came across a reference to an interview, Debunking the Myth of Intuition, with Nobel Prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman, in Spiegel Online.
The section on intuition was very interesting indeed, but the bit that really got me was this:
SPIEGEL: Why is it so important for us to imagine our lives as a collection of stories?
Kahneman: Because that’s all we keep from life. It’s going by, and you are left with stories. That’s why people exaggerate the importance of memories.
That really floored me, but the more I think about it the more I think it is true. We have talked before about memory and the way we all manipulate it, consciously or otherwise, and how untrustworthy it is. So, in the end our life is just a story and possibly largely a work of fiction at that.
So, is that it? In the end it’s just a story of our own devising?
My own story is pretty good. I hope my chapters in others’ stories show me in that good a light.
How’s your story?
My story is pretty boring. No, seriously, even I think so
It’s a pretty idea and I like it. I will need to think about it some more in order to possibly come up with a better response
I like the idea too. I guess I like the idea that I have more control over the story than the actuality.
It is not! It is a happy love story starring the sweet and lovely DJ as a major character : )
Boring can be OK if you remember the old Chinese curse (supposedly) – ‘May you live in interesting times.’
Totally agree – most people dream of a happy love story, so you should celebrate your story.
Aww thank you
No story is boring. Every story has joy and sorrow, challenges and triumphs. Your story is also filled with amazingness because you are.
Absolutely. Think of the legacy you’re leaving DJ. Beautiful young mum, product of a long time, highschool sweetheart love. Part of a family that loves each other, in all their flawed goodness. That’s an amazing thing to give him.
My parents gave me something similar and I am so grateful. x
Gorgeous girls, thank you
My story is a pretty good one so far.
No great villians, no extreme disasters. Like loller it is pretty boring, if it were a book, it woudl be a terribly boring book and would most likely be found in a $5 book store.
Then again, while people may like to read horror stories it doesn’t mean that they want that in real life.
I would say that the reason people would compartmentalise their lives is so that it makes it easy to reflect on the good periods from the not-so-good periods.
That being said it also makes it easier to move on from the terrible periods, to ‘draw a line under it’ so to speak.
I think that is a very important part of it.
True. If that is my alternative, I’ll keep boring
My page for today – late start (which I like, although it is now imminent), late finish (which I hate), scored an extra squash match tonight (excellent).
This page may need a slight revision if I lose the squash match. Have to keep the story good.
Catch you all later.
Most days my story feels like one of those ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ books I used to read as a kid. Some days end in entirely unexpected ways, others seem to drag on, and still others surprise me and make me feel warm and fuzzy all over.
I like the concept that your life is remembered as a story. It has a beginning, a middle and an end, and it should be an adventure all the way, with some romance, comedy and some twists and turns along the way. A good story is a great way to be remembered when you are gone.
And today, my page is blank. There is nothing happening here today so far. Tonight the page will be filled with happiness as the man is back from Brisbane, and we are going to go out for dinner!
Some good plot twists today Maz.
I LOVE this topic but have a stupid meeting for most of the morning, I will come back later though.
Just came from a stupid *%$!ing meeting – have had so many recently, my life just feels like one long meeting at the moment….
Mine too! I hate them at the best of times but when they happen around times I could have been doing more important work they have an extra level of suck.
As for my thoughts on this topic:
Stories are important because we remember and interact with stuff and people almost entirely based on the stories we tell ourselves and each other.
I recently read a comment on Reddit that gave me some insight into the way people who have difficulty with social interactions may think about life events compared to people who are more comfortable (basically people who are good at social interaction see every event in their life as a potential story to retell, they deliberately view them and encode them as such, less so for people who struggle with social interactions according to the commenter, this theory made a lot of sense to me).
I read a book years ago called “In the beginning there were stories” it focused exclusively on the oral tradition of the bible but the way we understand how myth and legend got passed down in a pre-writing society helps inform why stories are so central to our everyday lives. Fascinating stuff.
Memory is very flawed but we never notice it primarily because we are very good at filling the gaps in our stories. Our pattern recognition and mental schemas make this a habit that we are almost completely unable to avoid; we do it without conscious thought and without particular evil intent. We reinvent our own history often enough for large chunks of our memories to be no more than the most recent personal version of Chinese whispers.
Thanks H
I really should jump on the “say the obvious, win a prize” bandwagon like this guy.
I don’t think we exaggerate the importance of memories as much as we exaggerate the importance of our selves and the role we play on another person’s stage. We’re the main characters in our own stories, but supporting actors in someone else’s.
My story is an exciting mix science fiction, fantasy, chunderworthy love, bacon, weird creatures that fart rainbows and at least two dogs, and that’s just the prologue of what goes on behind my eyes.
In front of my eyes, what with a wife that is prepared to deal with me and offspring (singular at the moment) who is learning from me, the rest of the story promises to be fascinating and will probably fuel psychology text books for years to come.
Mmmm bacon.
I’m making bacon. I bought a pork belly and made a cure of 1 cup salt, 1 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup maple syrup.
Coated the meaty side of the belly with the cure and put the whole lot in a plastic tub for the next week.
Next week it’ll be put in the oven to bring its internal temp to 150F and then it’s bacon!
You had me at ‘bacon’.
Does bacon beer tickle your fancy?
LOL
Amusing, but nooooooo.
If we start making too many things that smell or taste like bacon, then what will we start doing to bacon? Beer flavored bacon? Preposterous!
Today’s life chapter begins with work interwebbyness being fixed so I can get my Splat fix!
For any that missed last night’s late post, I found out yesterday that I got the promotion.
Today I got my letter of offer and found that my salary is increasing by $28k with the promotion!
So right now, my story is a musical dance extraveganza.
That is excellent news, I’m doing a little happy dance for you.
I’m sure it is very well deserved and am glad your employers are noticing your awesome.
Woot!
Complete with dancing rodents, I hope, in the chorus line!
Btw, the salary increase is awesome. Clearly everything is (deservedly) coming up Beez!
That is fantastic news!
Very well done and absolutely deserved Beez
Memory is a myth, guided by electricity. What one brain processes may have had a few extra jolts than another brain.
I don’t know about all of you fine people, but I don’t trust electricity one bit, particularly when poking a knife into the toaster or standing outside in a storm holding a spoon.
So, what I’m saying is, don’t stick cutlery in your ear. The results will be shocking.
Events cannot be shown, scientifically, to have ever happened. We can deduce things, but we cannot prove that anything is actually real. Particularly events that cannot be physically stored.
Thanks Niamhist, now I wont stop running that through my head all night!
Is this a dream or are our dreams reality and what we perceive as reality really our dreams?
Even scarier – what are we? Are both dreams and reality figments of whatever-we-are’s imagination?
A scary amount of things are figments of my imagination. Maybe that’s your answer.
Am I a man dreaming I’m a butterfly, or a goat dreaming I’m a ham sandwich?