Chapter 6: Identity and Morality
Will Storr, award-winning journalist and author of The Science of Storytelling and A Story is a Deal, has spent decades researching the links between storytelling, the human condition and our identities. In our new interview series, we speak to him to uncover how we can harness the power of our storytelling brains and unlock the full power of the story – in changing beliefs, driving action and achieving extraordinary results. Here, he discusses the identities we form due to our storytelling brains.
Never Miss A Story
Read the transcript of the film:
In the human story world, we’re not a machine of flesh and blood; we are an identity – a set of ideas about who we ought to be and how the world should work. That identity, our sense of morals, is of massive importance to us. People will often die on behalf of it.
I believe it’s the most important possession that any human has. All storytelling is drenched in moral instruction, subconsciously persuading us. When we identify with the hero and the hero learns how to become more virtuous, we are persuaded by that too. It’s built into human society – human life.
“That identity, our sense of morals, is of massive importance to us. People will often die on behalf of it.”
Will Storr on identity
Every business will have its own set of virtuous beliefs – a notion of what constitutes a good and bad employee. If an employee identifies with that story, they’re going to want to feel good, follow the rules of the story world and transmit those rules to other people.
The decisions we’re making about how we behave, who we support and what we buy comes down to identity, which is built from the stories that persuade us.
Get Will Storr’s new book A Story is a Deal here.
