Humans are narrative beings. I’m unconvinced by Tyler Cowan’s TED talk that we should be suspicious of stories. We all know that stories leave out details and take a particular perspective. But that isn’t a rationale for rejecting stories. We should learn to be better critical reasoners with stories.
We also know that messy and complex stories, stories that are much more like our own lives, are not as useful and meaningful to us. Since Cowan didn’t have much an alternative for how we create meaning in our lives, I don’t think that his ideas are that applicable.
