2018-09-04
34 分钟Welcome to LSE IQ,
a podcast from the London School of Economics and Political Science where we ask leading social scientists and other experts to answer an intelligent question about economics,
politics or society.
The human species thinks in metaphors and learns through stories.
So says Mary Catherine Bateson, writer and cultural anthropologist.
Narratives are all around us from the TV shows we watch, the newspapers we read, to the anecdotes we tell,
but how do narrative shape our understanding of the world, ourselves and the people around us?
Do they distort or clarify our view of reality?
In this episode, James Ratty asks, how do stories help us understand the world?
We want to warn you
that the first section of the podcast touches on the issue of suicide and contains some fairly graphic and potentially upsetting descriptions.
It's not suitable for everyone.
If this is something that you would prefer not to listen to,
you could forward to around the 12 minute mark and resume listening then.
As a professor of theatre, Lib Taylor is well versed in interpreting narratives from a wide range of performances.
It was driving on holiday in the USA that our understanding of how we construct narratives was challenged.
Here's Lib setting the scene.
In 2002, I was driving from Los Angeles to Palm Beach down the freeway with my husband.
He was driving.
I was in the passenger seat and we were aware that the traffic was gradually slowing down.