I bitch a lot about the decline of education in America after having
spent nearly 30 years as an academic. However, there are some bright
spots to which I fail to give appropriate attention. The brightest spot
for me was the free time I had to explore ideas most of which ended up
having some very practical (I realize that this term is highly relative) value. I have endless curiosity and having
free time to explore that curiosity was really the best way I could
spend my time. I have a motivational poster on my office wall with a
quote from Dorothy Parker which says, "The cure for boredom is
curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity". I spend my time keeping
boredom at bay by following my endless curiosity. And, in the process, I
have discovered many, many wonderful things that most people do not
seem to be at all aware of. I often say that there are twelve things that you need to know in order to make sense out of the world although I have never bothered to write them down.
One of these discoveries was that people
have two parallel modes of reasoning that we will refer to as Logical
vs Narrative Reasoning. It comes from the field of Cognitive Science which
is a sub-discipline in Psychology. And it is one of those twelve ideas.
I first stumbled on to it a couple
of decades ago when I was doing some research on the role of stories in
computer ethics. In the meantime, it has come to the foreground most
notably in a popular press book entitled The Science of Storytelling by
Will Storr published in 2020. Storr is a journalist rather than a
scientist, but he presents an easily accessible summation of research
that has evolved over decades. I will summarize Storr's book in a
future post. But, in preparation for that, I need to provide some bite
sized bits of information as a foundation. The focus of this post, as
the title suggests, is to briefly explain the differences between these
two modes of reasoning.
Here we have a table comparing Logical vs. Narrative Reasoning. Below I will expand on the differences. For the sake of simplicity you can think of Logical Reasoning as what is employed in science and mathematics, while narrative reasoning is employed in stories.
Logical Reasoning versus Narrative Reasoning |
|
Logical |
Narrative |
General |
Specific |
Objectively Verifiable |
Verifiable via Inter-subjective Experience |
Difficult to Grasp |
Easy to Grasp |
Single Conclusion |
Multiple Conclusions |
Context Independent |
Context Dependent |
Abstract |
Concrete |
General vs. Specific: Logical reasoning is based on generalities abstracted from the material and social worlds. For example, it is the case that Gold melts at 1,948°F. It is not the case that it melts at a lower temperature if a lover betrays it or its friends talk about it behind its back. Narrative reasoning is based on specific circumstances. A particular character in a particular situation did a particular thing.
Verification: Logical reasoning can be verified objectively. For example, a scientific experiment should be repeatable with the same result by any disinterested party. Narrative reasoning is verified by inter-subjective experience. You and I read the same story and it should agree with our understandings of how people behave in a certain circumstance.
Effort to Grasp: A scientific argument may be difficult to grasp due to its level of abstraction or the necessity of vast background information. A narrative argument (or story) is usually much easier to understand, at least superficially. Character A did something to character B and character B did something back to character A.
Conclusions: A logical argument should lead to a single conclusion. If it rains, the sidewalk will be wet. It rained. Therefore the sidewalk will be wet. A narrative argument may lead to multiple conclusions. Was Huckleberry Finn a moral person? You could spend your life trying to answer that definitively. In fact, a story that led every reader to the same conclusion would not be a very interesting story.
Context: A logical argument is context independent. As a general argument it does not vary based on circumstances. The sun sets in the west for everyone. It is not the case that the sun sets in the east for twelve year olds, old people and cats. A narrative argument is context dependent. Bob might see Jane in one light if he meets her at a bar where she winks at him and in a very different light if he meets her at a party where she pretends to ignore him.
Level of Abstraction: Due to the generality of a logical argument it is validly presented at a level of abstraction which overlooks specific details. If you sell a stock at a price more than what you paid for it, you will make money. This is true for all stocks and all people. It is not the case that it will only be true for good people. However, a narrative argument is rendered in a concrete and specific circumstance. It is not true that all runaway boys who take a raft down the Mississippi river will get rich. But, in the specific and concrete circumstances of the story about Huck Finn, it makes sense.
This dichotomy will appear in more circumstances that you can possibly imagine. And, in future posts, I will explore it further. But, for our immediate purposes, understanding this dichotomy is central to understanding good storytelling.
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