The Power of Story in the Digital Age

Several weeks ago in my Classics of Science Fiction course, I referenced the 1983 miniseries V. After I explained the basic plot, I paused and added, “I heard somewhere that someone was remaking it.”

There was another pause, this one filled with the soft clicking of keys. In a moment, several students could tell me all about the new V miniseries. They could also tell me, should I forget, which book won the Hugo for Best Novel in 1978, who was the key grip for the film Children of Men, and what year the Joker premiered in the Batman comic series. All of this important information is just one Google search away.

Albert Einstein once said “Never memorize what you can look up in books.” Of course, Einstein didn’t have the Internet, a Blackberry, or an iPhone. Something tells me if he was alive today he would tell people “Never memorize what you can Google.”

The question is-how long do people remember this Googled information? Because of the Internet and hand-held devices that make the Internet accessible from virtually anywhere, people have access to so much more information than they did in the dark ages (aka the 1980s). But is this access making people better informed and more knowledgeable? or is there just so much information out there that it all simply becomes incomprehensible? I argue it is the latter.

Book: Neuromancer

Author: William Gibson

Publisher: Penguin

Publication date: 2004-11

Length: 384 pages

Format: Hardcover

Price: $25.00

Image: http://images.popmatters.com/misc_art/g/gibson-neuromancer-cover.jpgIt is a case of science fiction becoming fact. William Gibson’s vision of cyberspace put forth so beautifully in Neuromancer has, at least in part, come true. Gibson coined the term cyberspace in Neuromancer, stating: “The matrix has its roots in primitive arcade games … Cyberspace. A consensual hallucination experienced daily by billions of legitimate operators, in every nation, by children being taught mathematical concepts … A graphic representation of data abstracted from banks of every computer in the human system. Unthinkable complexity. Lines of light ranged in the nonspace of the mind, clusters and constellations of data. Like city lights, receding.”

“Constellations of data” sound so pretty, except these constellations aren’t made of stars but of satellites. Thousands perhaps millions of satellites flickering in the sky, collecting information, and funneling it down to our computers where we Google, mine for data, and start del.icio.us pages to bring order to the chaos. People talk about feeling the effects of information overload — but they insist on continuing to contribute to it.

True knowledge (especially if it has a strong historical component) is power, as the saying goes, but factual knowledge is now cheap and readily available to anyone with a modicum of literacy skills — which makes facts, much like tuna fish and Ramen noodles, easy to overlook, particularly when facts merge into the factoids so readily accessed via hand-held devices. Factoids can be true but trivial facts, or factoids can be ideas that are generally believed to be true but in reality are actually not true.

Factoids (or urban legends) are nothing new. The term factoid has been around since the ’60s, and many modern urban legends started to become popular in the ’60s as well. However, the Internet, and specifically email, allows factoids, urban legends, and net hoaxes to multiply as quickly as the proverbial rabbit. Most people have probably received emails about dying children who need their help, department stores charging thousands of dollars for cookie recipes, or Snowball the Monster Cat. Most people are probably also guilty of passing at least some of these emails along to friends, who then pass them along to their friends. And on and on it goes.

Factoids have become so common that we now have websites, such as Snopes.com, to debunk factoids. On this site, people can learn, for example, that Hostess Twinkies don’t last forever and that the Great Wall of China is not actually visible from the moon – assumed ‘facts’ in modern culture that never were factual.

Information overload, assumed ‘facts’, and shortened attention spans that like to receive information via 140 character Tweets have changed the ways people learn and process information. Simply giving a student a list of all the important dates in World War II and telling them to memorize this list doesn’t work anymore. A student might be able to regurgitate this information on a test, but don’t ask the student to recite this information a year later (unless you give them a chance to Google it first). In an age where Twitter and Google seem to be taking over the world, how do people communicate information in a meaningful and memorable manner? They tell a story.

For centuries, stories were the primary way of teaching and communicating important information – using historical fact, dramatic reinterpretation, and fictional example to convey the point of the story. Stories kept histories alive (oral storytelling) or explained how things came to be. The Christian Bible, Sufi parables, Native American folklore, and Zen parables all entertained – but also explained. Even children’s stories taught moral lessons and illustrated cultural expectations.

Historically, stories have inspired, motivated, taught, and entertained. Consider an 11th-century Jewish Teaching Story Annette Simmons references in her book The Story Factor: Inspiration, Influence, and Persuasion through the Art of Storytelling:

Truth, naked and cold, had been turned away from every door in the village. Her nakedness frightened the people. When Parable found her she was huddled in a corner, shivering and hungry. Taking pity on her, Parable gathered her up and took her home. There, she dressed Truth in story, warmed her and sent her out again. Clothed in story, Truth knocked again at the doors and was readily welcomed into the villagers’ houses. They invited her to eat at their tables and warm herself by their fires.

Losing Memorization / Remembering Storytelling

Stories were (and still are) a kinder, gentler way to communicate hard truths and teach lessons. Equally important today, stories are easy to remember. Most people probably remember the Aesop’s Fable about the tortoise and the hare and its message concerning the dangers of being overly confident. Or how “Green Eggs and Ham” teaches children not to be afraid of trying something new. People remember these stories and their messages even though they may not have read them for years. Do they remember the facts (or factoids) they Google for this long? Probably not, but maybe it’s okay if people don’t memorize things the way generations past did. After all, is it the best use of our time to spend hours memorizing things that can easily be looked up? And what is more important for students to remember: the story of Anne Frank or the dates of the Battle of the Bulge?

Politicians, public relations experts, educators, executive trainers, and corporate gurus are learning what poets, novelists, playwrights, and literature majors have known for centuries—few things are as powerful as a well-told story.

Also important, while stories are not just facts, the best ones often contain facts or true knowledge. In their book, The Elements of Persuasion: Use Storytelling to Pitch Better, Sell Faster, and Win More Business, Richard Maxwell and Robert Dickman state that “a story is a fact, wrapped in an emotion that compels us to take an action that transforms our world.” This definition certainly applies to many traditional stories. Most people who enjoy reading (or going to the theatre or watching films) can list stories that have somehow changed their lives (or at least their perspective on life).

From Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged to Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”, to Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List, stories have the power to influence, motivate, and inspire. But this definition can also be applied to less traditional stories. The video story Augie’s Quest on the website What Kind of World do You Want provides a good example. This video uses facts along with traditional storytelling elements — heroes, a villain, narratives, and emotions — to tell a story and raise awareness about ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease).

Advertising gurus have long recognized the power of a good story. Take the original Macintosh Computer commercial that aired during the 1984 Superbowl and has since been viewed thousands of time on YouTube. In just about 60 seconds, this commercial, playing off the George Orwell book 1984, uses a story to show how the Macintosh Computer would set Americans free and why the real 1984 would not be like Orwell’s 1984.

The commercial shows a dystopia: a gray world where Big Brother is seen (and heard) on every television screen. A woman in vibrant red shorts runs through the crowd and hurls a hammer at the largest screen, destroying it and silencing Big Brother. The commercial then closes with the words “On January 24, Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh. And you’ll see why 1984 won’t be like 1984.” It’s an advertisement, and as such, its primary purpose is to sell, but this advertisement also demonstrates the power of the story. Not only do many credit this commercial with saving the Apple brand, but it’s still remembered, discussed, analyzed, and cited over 25 years after its initial debut.

As the Macintosh Computer advertisement and Augie’s Quest video indicate, stories are quickly spreading beyond their traditional stomping grounds. No longer are stories just parts of novels, films, or plays. Take, for example, the book Storytelling for Grantseekers by Cheryl Clarke, first published in 2001 with a second edition published in 2009. This book, as the title suggests, explains why stories can be valuable additions to grants and illustrates how to successfully incorporate stories into a grant. Other books, such as The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling: Mastering the Art and Discipline of the Business Narrative or Squirrel Inc.: A Fable about Leadership through Storytelling, indicate that storytelling is moving into the corporate world as well. While these types of stories may not be high literary art forms, they use many of the same narrative elements found in the works of master storytellers such as William Shakespeare or Edgar Allan Poe.

Reading Robot found on I.Zdnet.com

Politicians, public relations experts, educators, executive trainers, and corporate gurus are learning what poets, novelists, playwrights, and literature majors have known for centuries-few things are as powerful as a well-told story. Suddenly, storytelling is a valuable skill in the corporate world.

And this is part of the beauty of the story-it takes skill to tell a story successfully. The average fifth grader can use a search engine, find a few facts, and plop them into bullet points on a PowerPoint slide. Not everyone can tell a good story, but those who can now possess a valuable commodity. Storytelling isn’t just about Googling or data; it’s about putting all sorts of different things — words, images, characters, actions, and yes, even facts — together to create a cohesive whole that imparts meaning.

Of course, stories aren’t just about the storytellers; stories need audiences and the best audiences aren’t passive, mindless receptacles. The best audiences are active participants in storytelling process. They must read (or listen), analyze or interpret. They might even need to use their imaginations to bring characters to life or to answer the magical “what if” question.

What if society had the technologies found in I, Robot, or what if World War II would have ended differently (The Man in the High Castle)? Even workplace stories, such as the ones found in grants, can spark the imagination. People imagine a world without cancer or without starving children and fund projects that can bring about these changes.

At the end of the day, it’s easy to argue that people aren’t as smart as they used to be because they can’t rattle off as many facts as their grandparents or great-grandparents could. Some seem to think that Google and the Internet are making people less intelligent. But it’s important to remember that while certain skills, such as memorization skills, may be dwindling, other skills are popping up in their place.

Catherine Ramsdell, Ph.D., is a Professor of Professional Writing at SCAD-Atlanta. She teaches a wide variety of classes including Composition, Writing for New Media, and Classics of Science Fiction.