After reading this week's assignment I thought for sure that I was going to have plenty to disagree with when it comes to Gotschall's writing. The previous weeks I have found quite a bit that I havent agreed with, but of course now that it is the emphasis of the assignment, I find very little that I disagree with.
I like when he refers to fiction as a universal grammar. No matter where you are in the world fiction usually contains or has similar characteristics. The book sayas, "in life, conflict often carries a negative connotation, yet in fiction, be it comic or tragic, dramatic conflict is fundamental because in literature only trouble is interesting". I have been all around the world spending a couple years on the island of Borneo in East Malaysia. All of the literature or stories I came across all contained those common characteristics of fiction. Trouble and drama that is barely overcome.
I also like how we uses the example of the flight simulators and how fiction trains us for real life stories. "Just as flight simulators allow pilots to train safely, stories safely train us for the big challenges of the social world". This made me think about childrens books and how they try and give kids a little taste to what life will be like when they grow older. His readings always make me reconsider my thinking on seemingly average things such as childrens books.
I started to search the internet for articles that also state the importance of fiction in our life. I found everything from it being implemented in our minds from when we were born to the fact that fiction gives us joy and thats what we want. I think it is a combination of both of those extremes and we can't escape it.
One of my emphasis is communication which is always easy to relate to but my other is business management. I started to think about how Gotschall mentions that we "literally experience the same feelings ourselves" when we watch it on the big screen. I know that when I watch a sports movie or a racing movie I want to drive home super fast and be a part of that movie. I think in managing a business as well as employees this would be something I want want to emulate. Giving people the desire to become better.
Stories when good overcomes evil, or a character who perseveres against all odds instills a sense of endurance in children I think. It helps mold them at an early age to be a leader, to have strength, and to believe good always overcomes evil...which we know isn't always the case in real life. I think Fiction is good- it imparts a sense of hope in people. I think the use of story in business management is just as effective. Sure, there are those cheesy posters in offices of a man scaling a huge mountain, and at the bottom of the poster a word like "MOTIVATION" is printed boldly. Those posters are telling a story- however- I worked for a wonderful doctor who every other tuesday held an office meeting. In the meeting he would recount stories of patients, and their health successes. We were encouraged to recounts instances in our positions with patients as well. By telling our stories, and connecting as a team that way- acknowledging where we handled things perfectly, and where we could use some work, helped shape us a team and made the business more successful. Story definitely has a place in business management.
ReplyDeleteI also liked his statement that story is a way to emotionally obtain experience with out experiencing the consequences. The medical school I'm going to has a baby delivery simulation. The mom and baby are both robots. I think the baby's name is "Chucky." They sometimes program the delivery so that Chucky dies during delivery or shortly after. What a way to stimulate emotions with out experiencing the consequences! Having two kids of my own, I think it'll be hard for me when I have to deliver dead or dying Chucky because I'll relate it to my own kids and what I felt when they were born.
ReplyDeleteI also had a hard time trying looking for examples that disagreed with this chapter. I really like your comment about books for kids. My son (who is climbing on me as I type) was given a book about potty training. Even though this won't happen for quite a while, It should help him to understand what he needs to do.
ReplyDeletei like how you used the flight simulatoras a example because when i was younger i would play it for fun. and now that i think about it like you said it was a way for me to get trained on something. to me its funny that we are given books on how to do something but every experence is different from the last so in other words how can a book give us every thing.
ReplyDeleteI like how you added your own personal experiences to support the quote about how only "trouble is interesting" when it comes to literature. Very interesting examples.
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