My Dear Storybuff:
PSA—Your brain is story-wired. My brain is story-wired. Human brains are story-wired.
The degree that eyebrows waggle and foreheads furrow during occasions where I've made such comments in a casual conversation is striking. It's like the person's conscious understanding is wrestling with a subconscious reality that's prevailed throughout our shared humanity since the beginning of time... in real time.
Incredulity seeps from their cognitive dissonance with such force that it almost compels me to intervene before they drown in it. They don't. Drown, that is. Thank heavens.
Still, I must be clear—it's not a fib. I'm not bluffing. Our brains are wired for story. I promise. But I won't put on my social-cognitive scientist hat. I'll just point somethings out in everyday life.
Here's the revenue the following story mongers gathered from subscribers in 2024 alone.
Netflix: $39 billion
Amazon Prime Video: $13.5 billion
HBOMax: $8.8 billion
Disney+: $10.4 billion
Hulu: $12 billion
We'll pay a lot for a good story. Heck, we'll even pay for some bad ones too. I could say more. But I'll leave things here for now. What tale's been tickling your brain this month?
Well, that's my story morning glory. Keep living out yours. And remember… Stories tell us.
~D. V. Gwyth