chefranden Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 Last night I sent my wife a link that debunks a bit of Star Wars. O N T H E I M P L A U S I B I L I T Y O F T H E D E A T H S T A R ' S T R A S H C O M P A C T O R . Then this morning I found on Reddit Rebuttal to the Implausibility of the Death Star trash compactor. Also this morning my wife spent some time attempting to defend the Plausibility of the Trash Compactor. As I listened to her and rebutted her rebuttles the thought came to me that story is probably more important to humans than fact, logic, or reason. So much so that people will defend passionately the logic of stories they know to be fictional. I brought this up with Sweety and we decided that her favorite story universes were in order, Harry Potter, Star Trek, and Star Wars. From living with her I would say that these fictions are what informs her life. It would seem to me that to ignore or even to disparage this human propensity would be unwise. I will go so far as to say that people, even those that claim to be strict objectivists, make life descisions based on story before facts. That is facts that support the story will be used and those that don't will be rationalized in some fashion. I can imagine that the evolution of reason is tied up with a need to rationalize the story in the face of a world that doesn't quite fit. Thinking about this' the stories by which I've lived my life include Official Government Approved American History, Starship Trooper, Stranger in a Strange Land, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Gospels, and of course Ishmael. In the case of Ishmael I find that I will defend it just as passionately as I used to defend the Gospel. This is somewhat of surprize to me because I also live in the story where the hero is above such influences and is equally objective to all comers. By what stories do you live your life? If you cannot think of any can you establish that you don't live by any? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vigile Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 Brilliant! As such I attempt to live with the idea that nothing is sacred. I'm sure that I fail fabulously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouroboros Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 I can see the light! Now I know that the Empire and Rebellion and the Star Wars never happened for real! And all these years I thought it was a true story... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chefranden Posted August 23, 2006 Author Share Posted August 23, 2006 Are stories without facts more compelling than facts without stories? I'd say yes! I think I defend Ishmael (yes I know it is fiction) because it connects things I know about the world in a "believable" way. In addition it makes the craziness of the world I've seen seem plausible and gives me a handle to mentally manipulate the facts I think I know. It gives me the feeling that I'm seeing the forest instead of just the trees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouroboros Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 By what stories do you live your life? If you cannot think of any can you establish that you don't live by any? I try to live the story of my own life. There's always a surprise behind the next door... (or the next page) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chefranden Posted August 23, 2006 Author Share Posted August 23, 2006 By what stories do you live your life? If you cannot think of any can you establish that you don't live by any? I try to live the story of my own life. There's always a surprise behind the next door... (or the next page) Let me ask a different way: How do you make sense of the surprises? I know you've had some nasty ones, so why do you want to turn the page? What is the story of the hero that just turns the page? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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