5 REASONS STORIES CHANGE US AND WHY OUR BRAINS LOVE THEM

Researcher Paul Zak has spent the last several years searching for the reasons stories "can move us to tears, change our attitudes, opinions and behaviors, and even inspire us—and how stories change our brains, often for the better."
His work reveals that:
1) Stories engage emotions, imagination and information all at once, which is

by Jude Treder-Wolff, LCSW, RMT, CGP
Host and Creator of (mostly) TRUE THINGS storytelling show

why we can easily give our full attention to a well-told narrative;
2) The art of a storyteller is in the ability to increase and sustain the tension through the entire tale. When we to relate to the struggles and challenges of the story's main character, we can better understand our own and learn about how someone else got through them.
3) Stories bring brains together. There is an effortless and important empathic connection developed through listening to others' stories and being listened to when we tell our own. Neuroscience shows that this connection is what makes human beings able to collaborate in all the ways that allowed human begins to survive and go on to build massive cities, develop sophisticated technologies, and land a probe on a comet tearing through space.
4) Stories transport us into worlds and realities so we can learn about life beyond our own direct experience.
5) Stories connect strangers through what neuroscientists call "empathic transportation" which binds listeners in an intangible but powerful way.
Read about this research on The GreaterGood website.

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