Introspective and Unconventional Lenses from http en wikipedia

Introspective and Unconventional Lenses

from http: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Narrative_paradigm Based on an article by Walter Fisher at http: //ftp. cleary. edu/6%20 credit%20 classes/MGT%20 485/Narration%20 as%20 a%20 Human%20 Communicat ion%20 Paradigm. pdf

Ways of Knowing Sense Perception Emotion Language Logic

The Narrative Paradigm Human beings experience and comprehend life as a series of ongoing narratives, each with its own conflicts, characters, beginning, middle, and end.

The Narrative Paradigm All forms of communication that appeal to our reason are best viewed as stories shaped by history, culture, and character, and all forms of human communication are to be seen fundamentally as stories.

The Traditional Paradigm of the Rational World

Rational Paradigm a scientific or philosophical approach to knowledge that assumes people are logical and make decisions on the basis of evidence and lines of argument.

Rational Paradigm People are essentially thinking beings, basing their reasoned decisions on the merits of discussion and evidential reasoning. What is judged rational is determined by the knowledge and understanding displayed and by how the case is argued. The world is a set of logical puzzles that we can solve through rational analysis.

According to Fisher… Too limited

According to Fisher… Narrative Rationality

According to Fisher… People are essentially storytellers. The world is a set of stories from among which we must choose in order to live in a process of continual re-creation. Each individual chooses the ones that match his or her values and beliefs. Making decisions depends on judgments about these good reasons. The test of narrative rationality is based on the probability, coherence, and fidelity of the stories that underpin the immediate decisions to be made.

Probability, Coherence, Fidelity Probability is the simple likelihood that a story you have heard could be true (based on reason). Narrative coherence asks if a story hangs together. Narrative fidelity states that if a story matches our own beliefs and experiences, we will accept it.

So what does this have to do with you?

So what does this have to do with you? Everything

Implications “…thinking in terms of stories must be shared by all mind or minds, whether ours or those of redwood forests or sea anemones. ” -Gregory Bateson

Implications “We assume a time when our primal ancestors became able to go from SENSATIONS to WORDS (When they could duplicate the experience of tasting an orange by saying ‘the taste of an orange, ’ that was when STORY CAME INTO THE WORLD). ” -Kenneth Burke

At the very least… Everything you know is based on the stories you’ve read, heard, or experienced. The more you’ve read heard and experienced, the more you know, whether you buy into the stories or not. Knowing the history, structure, archetypes, and subtleties of human narration provides and enlightened context for knowing itself.

So what makes a good/successful story?