I have been hearing the word narrative thrown around a lot in the news and in counter-news articles.
umm, reality isn’t a storybook – so what does this even mean?
Note: I did a quick search about narrative first and found only [one relevant eli5](https://redd.it/b8utov), but I don’t understand it… so if we’re actually talking about the same thing then I need an ELI5 on their ELI5
In: Culture
Human beings are more or less primed to listen to stories and sometimes, when a good story doesn’t exist, they make things up. This is not evil or malicious, it is the way human beings “understand” and make sense of the world.
Anyone who is or needs to be effective at persuasion (political leaders, authors, musicians, religious leaders, corporate leaders etc) will take care to position their needs and wants within the context of a story or narrative.
Think of two beggars on a street. One holds a sign that said “give me money” and the other “homeless vet and disabled, please help”, which would you be more likely to give some money to?
All of us create our internal narratives (justify our actions and inactions for our peace of mind) and external narratives in dealing with others. These are bound by our drives,
our perception of reality, our ability to comprehend and our biases/blindspots.
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