The Power of Stories.
Adapted from a TED presentation by Tyler Cowen.
To think in terms of stories is fundamentally human. We are biologically programmed to respond to them. It helps to give our lives perspective, connection and values. But stories, by their very nature, are a simplification of the truth. We strip away and filter out information when we think in stories. They are a way of imposing some sort of order on the mess that is the way we live. Stories, more often than not, can be reduced to a simple premise such as good versus evil. This only leaves the glamorous and seductive elements of the story to which we are all particularly attracted. In fact, the more attractive a story is the less likely it will be a true reflection of real life.
We can end up thinking that our lives and the world around us can be explained by simple metaphors and similes’, when the reality is far more messy, complex and irrational. Those stories that we find the most compelling and inspiring are often the ones that we should treat with the greatest scepticism. Stories tend to remove the spontaneous and the accidental (when was the last time the lead actor was randomly run-over by a bus an hour into a film – not a great story). Understanding and accepting this fact helps us to recognise the limitations that stories hold.
When it comes to the workings of cities, and particularly streets, the very best are all about a little messiness, complexity and irrationality. But all too often we are willing, even eager, to believe in a new approach or theory that claims to neatly explain their workings. The very definition of marketing can be thought of as the bundling of products with good stories; how shared space will civilise your street, how a by-pass will solve your town centre’s failings, how getting tough on speeding will create stronger communities. We are pre-programmed to want to believe in these simple causal relationships, but the reality is almost always so much more complex. It is very often those streets that have been the recipient of the manifestations of a good story that are now failing in some way, their original problems oversimplified to the latest ‘fashionable story’.
To help create great places we must fight our urges to fall for the most recent, inspiring story that succinctly claims to be the grand unified theory of everything, the magic pill that solves all ills, and instead admit to ourselves just how complex, messy and unique good streets really are.
We can end up thinking that our lives and the world around us can be explained by simple metaphors and similes’, when the reality is far more messy, complex and irrational. Those stories that we find the most compelling and inspiring are often the ones that we should treat with the greatest scepticism. Stories tend to remove the spontaneous and the accidental (when was the last time the lead actor was randomly run-over by a bus an hour into a film – not a great story). Understanding and accepting this fact helps us to recognise the limitations that stories hold.
When it comes to the workings of cities, and particularly streets, the very best are all about a little messiness, complexity and irrationality. But all too often we are willing, even eager, to believe in a new approach or theory that claims to neatly explain their workings. The very definition of marketing can be thought of as the bundling of products with good stories; how shared space will civilise your street, how a by-pass will solve your town centre’s failings, how getting tough on speeding will create stronger communities. We are pre-programmed to want to believe in these simple causal relationships, but the reality is almost always so much more complex. It is very often those streets that have been the recipient of the manifestations of a good story that are now failing in some way, their original problems oversimplified to the latest ‘fashionable story’.
To help create great places we must fight our urges to fall for the most recent, inspiring story that succinctly claims to be the grand unified theory of everything, the magic pill that solves all ills, and instead admit to ourselves just how complex, messy and unique good streets really are.
