Humans of course, are a storytelling creature.

[Michael Grove]

[IT]'s PART of WHAT MAKES US HUMAN. We tell stories that shape our sense of the world. We have strong cultural narratives, like the story that technology will save us. Or that everything [IS] God's plan. Or that the end is nigh and we're on the brink of collapse. We also have strong personal narratives - those we tell ourselves about our lives and identity - maybe that we're a failure and our lives have come to naught, or that we're special enough that the limits that apply to others don't apply to us, or that human beings are so fundamentally evil that anyone's bold, imaginative thinking about a positive future is childish and naive. These narratives are so omnipresent that we often barely notice them, or notice the fact that they're stories - stories that might be inaccurate, or incomplete, or subject to change - even though they can dictate major decisions like who to vote for, where to live, and what work to do. Stories influence the shape our lives take and the path by which society charts its way forward. The Power of Story is, in fact, something we underestimate at our peril.  

                                         Rob Hopkins • FROM WHAT IF TO WHAT IS