Storythinking

The New Science of Narrative Intelligence (No Limits)

By: Angus Fletcher

Narrated by: Peter Lerman

Length: 5 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

Every time we think ahead, we are crafting a story. Every daily plan and every political vision, social movement, scientific hypothesis, business proposal, and technological breakthrough starts with “what if?” Linking causes to effects, considering hypotheticals and counterfactuals, asking how other people will react: these are the essence of narrative. So why do we keep overlooking story’s importance to intelligence in favor of logic?

This book explains how and why our brains think in stories. Angus Fletcher, an expert in neuroscientific approaches to narrative, identifies this capacity as “storythinking.” He demonstrates that storythinking is fundamental to what makes us human. Artificial intelligence can perform symbolic logic, rational deduction, and mathematical calculation, but it is incapable of deliberating in narrative. Drawing on new research in neuroscience and narrative theory, Fletcher explores the nature of imagination, innovation, and creativity. He provides concise answers to big questions: How does story thinking work? Why did it evolve? How can it misfire? What problems can it solve?

Revealing the significance of storythinking from science to business to philosophy, this book also provides ways for listeners to harness its power to script better tomorrows.

The book is published by Columbia University Press. The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks.

©2023 Columbia University Press (P)2023 Redwood Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"Storythinking is nothing less than a cosmological paradigm shift that puts story making and thinking at the center of all that we do." (Frederick Luis Aldama, UT Austin)

"Storythinking is absolutely excellent: a much-needed reminder of and expansion on the transformative power of story..." (Lisa Miller, Ph.D., Teachers College, Columbia University)

"Fletcher, in this captivating and inspiring new book, leads the way." (Mark Turner, author of The Literary Mind: The Origins of Thought and Language)