Sarah_1&2_I

I was oddly surprised to find that Simmons waited until pages 35 and 36 to mention the influential power of stories as they relate to religion and Aesop's fables. From the start of the book I couldn't help thinking, "Just say it! Just say stories hold religion together!" All the elements were there, but she just wouldn't say it plainly for me.

She mentioned how you need to use stories to get people to believe you, to trust you. Then there was this whole talk of faith on page 3. Stories create faith, and the ultimate goal is for your audience to believe your story to the point that the story becomes theirs as well. Is this not the roots of organized religion? Each religion has its own stories that unite its members and keep the religion strong. We believe in the stories our religion's tell so much that we're willing to shun the stories of others or even go to war over opposing stories. This is true power and influence.

Because I was in this religious mindset, I also couldn't help but take the titles for the six story types literally. So here's how I saw the titles when I first read them:
1. "Who I Am" tells us who we are as people and where we came from.
2. "Why I Am Here" tells us why we were brought into existence.
3. "The Vision" tells us what the higher powers have planned for us.
4. "Teaching Stories" tell us what we're supposed to do.
5. "Values-in-Action" related to teaching and show us how to be good people.
6. "I Know What You Are Thinking"..... well, I couldn't really think of something for this.
Maybe this relates to the all-knowing God phenomenon. Or maybe it relates to naughty
thoughts equaling no presents on Christmas. I don't know.

Did anyone else have any similar thoughts, or am I just crazy?

Chad__CHAPTER__1&2

Hidden between the lines in Chapter 1 is the suggestion that the oral tradition is richer in authenticity than the written word.

This idea folds into an assertion in Chapter 2 that: "Stories are 'more true' than facts because stories are multidimensional."

These points work in tandem to argue the human brain is more open to influence when engaged in a multidimensional activity.

In the case of a person listening to a live story performance, many sensory inputs interact with the brain. The storyteller mixes orality with nonverbal language and the content of the story itself to encounter his audience on three levels.

Is influence a simple matter of approaching the audience with multidimensional information, or is there another factor at work?

Tim_Q

OK, so we are using this blog to discuss class issues. I think that Blogging is already old. Seems to me it's just another name for a message board. Back in the day, we had Compuserve with topic related discussion boards. Nothing new in the Blog.
So my big question is: What's the next new name for an old internet concept?
Maybe it's time to stop calling it a Blog and come up with something new.
Any ideas?
See you all soon!