One thing makes us human, and it drives everything we do: stories.
We need stories to make sense of the world.
Not just any stories, mind you. To please us, our stories must be two things: simple and painless.
Simple. Painless. Please.
Painless—or painful for someone else.
We choose stories that are simple and painless—or painful for someone else.
Then there’s reality.
The truth has two big problems. The truth tends to be complicated, and the truth tends to be painful. […] The advantage of fiction is that it can be made as simple and as painless […] as you want it to be.”
—Yuval Harari, on the Lex Fridman podcast [55:10]
So the story wins.
Reality comes second.
And it doesn’t stop there.
We reward confidence over competence.”
—Adam Grant, on the incorrect way we choose leaders [51:49]
We reward overconfidence:
People who know enough to think they’re right, but not enough to know they’re wrong.”
—Neil deGrasse Tyson, on the Dunning–Kruger effect and the peak of “Mt. Stupid” [02:39]
Overconfidence feeds stories, and stories feed overconfidence—forming a self-reinforcing loop.
It’s not so much that we’re evil.
Lazy or stupid, maybe. But not evil.
The tragedy of history isn’t that we use stories. It’s that stories use us.”
—Yuval Harari
The system owns us
We choose stories, and over time that choice becomes a system.
It’s not just an individual challenge. It’s a shared one:
Do we want a system that encourages storytelling—because stories can be made as simple and painless as we want them to be—or do we want a system that encourages truth-telling?
What does it say about us when the most capable among us—the ones who grasp reality and care about it—avoid the spotlight?
Back to reality
Part of me wishes I could breeze through life telling stories, unencumbered by reality.
Because it’s easier. Because the system rewards the expedient narrative.
Yet reality keeps pulling me back in.
Time and time again, I confront reality with practical solutions—only to find they still demand more than most people can give.
Reality continues to ruin my life.”
—Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes
Facing reality
How about you? What kind of person do you want to be—and what kind of system do you want to build?
Choose stories—or don’t.
Fake reality—or face it.
