Making meaning
We are a peculiar species. For example, many of us continue to risk our long term survival for the pleasure of puffing on a stick of nicotine, while others make it very difficult to walk by wearing uncomfortable high heel footwear. Read more »
“Though experience be our only guide in reasoning concerning matters of fact; it must be acknowledged, that this guide is not altogether infallible, but in some cases is apt to lead us into errors.” - David Hume
“The invalid assumption that correlation implies cause is probably among the two or three most serious and common errors of human reasoning.” - Stephen Jay Gould Read more »
A universal story
Although there are seven basic plots which have been the basis of storytelling for thousands of years (even if there have been some developments in recent years), the plots share many common trait. All the plots can ultimately be summarised as a single universal story, and share many common features such as a tension between light and dark and masculine and feminine, use of archetypal symbols, patterns and personalities, and an overarching theme of self realisation in their narrative structure and elements. Read more »
Plotting the course of storytelling over the past 200 years
In The Seven Basic Plots, Christopher Booker argues that storytelling has changed dramatically over the last 200 years, and that he focus on the inner state of a hero(ine)’s inner state and eventual transformation has shifted to a focus on more outward (material) transformation, gradually moving the plot away from the primal archetypes towards more ego driven narratives. For example, in the film Limitless (2011) a Faustian bargain at the start of the film evolves into a wish fulfilment fantasy in which the hero suffers no ultimate penalty for his bargain nor does he undergo any serious ‘transformation’ or ‘enlightenment’. Read more »
“The point of a story can penetrate far deeper than the point of any bullet.” - Laurence Nault
Getting to the point
There are seven basic plots in storytelling as we have seen over the last few weeks. These plots form the backbone of myths, fairy tales, novels and movies, and also of advertising, brand stories and how we can all communicate in business, including market researchers telling the story of their data. Here are seven reasons why stories will help you communicate ideas more effectively, helping you to build your story and helping your audience to remember the point of it all. Read more »
Born again
The plot of rebirth is one of the oldest of all, seen in many of the fairy tales that are part of our childhood and mirroring the very act of growing up and being reborn as an adult after years in childhood. Read more »
mask of Dionysus
The unfolding Greek tragedy
As events unfold in Europe this week, there is a sense of inevitably that they will end in further pain and suffering in Greece (and many other countries). I suspect they may only resolve themselves fully when there has been a full catharsis (literally a ‘dramatic cleansing’) for the main characters and countries involved. Read more »
“People ask me, ‘Steve, how do you get so funny?’ I say to them, ‘Before I go onstage I put a fish in each shoe. That way I feel funny.’” - Steve Martin
The funny thing about comedy
Aristotle believed that comedy arose like tragedy from improvisations around specific festivals. Tragedy arose as a prelude to the dithyramb (an ancient Greek hymn in honour of Dionysus), while comedy was originally a prelude to phallic songs and processions which were part of ancient Greek fertility rites. Aristotle would be considered a snob today, and he viewed comedy as a lower form of poetry, dealing with people of lower virtue, who were unimportant, undignified and, to coin a word, ‘laughable’. By contrast, tragedy dealt with stories about serious, important and virtuous people. Unfortunately the second book of his Poetics which was specifically about tragedy has not survived (some medieval texts are believed to be translations of the original). Read more »
Into another world
My favourite film of last year was Inception (you can read about marketing inception here and the psychology of inception here). For those who haven’t seen it yet (and please do if you haven’t), the plot involves the main character played by Leonardo di Caprio entering someone’s dream world with a team of helpers in order to plant an idea in the dreamer’s mind. As with similar ‘Voyage and return’ plots, Leonardo’s character starts the movie with a shadow (his wife’s suicide) hanging over him, restricting his mental world and opening him to the potential of a voyage into the unknown (with the promise of a return to his home). He finally returns home after a strange and dangerous voyage of discovery, a changed man. Read more »
The evolution of colour
We share eyes which can form images with around 95% of animal species, and colour is an important signal in nature for the safety of food, the detection of predators and the identification of sexual readiness (and Mark Changizi argues also for interpreting the emotions and intentions of others). Colour is caused by the reflection of some types of light and the absorption of others, and all our eyes can tell our brains are which wavelengths (or frequencies) of light are present and which are not. From this information our brain creates the colours which we see all around us, but have these colours always been experienced in the same way and had the same meanings? Read more »
