The Storytelling Genius of Jane Goodall and Why Intellectual Arguments Don't Change Behavior
https://time.com/6104703/the-storytellin...-behavior/
INTRO: Facts never did change hearts. But until the era of alternative Facebook-style facts, it was a bit easier to pretend that we humans were logical creatures.
Our inability to ingest inconvenient truths is not news to Dr. Jane Goodall, the legendary naturalist. She has spent decades persuading us to change the way we treat animals and the planet, and she does it by talking about her experiences, not with terrifying U.N. climate reports. “If one wants to change attitudes, you have to reach the heart. You can reach the heart by telling stories, not by arguing with people’s intellects,” she says on her new podcast, or as she calls it, her “Hopecast,” and this week’s edition of TIME.
The science backs up her approach (of course). A recent study out of Princeton University using brain imaging showed how while hearing a story our brain waves start to synchronize with those of the storyteller. And the better the listener understood, the more closely the brain wave patterns mirrored those of the storyteller. And that narrative connection allows us to better see a situation from another’s viewpoint, and stories with an emotional bent, engage the affective empathy network of the brain. And that empathy, that ability to see beyond one’s self, is the key to delivering a message that asks us to change our behavior. Research has shown that cultivating empathy has been effective in the campaign to get more Americans to get the COVID-19 vaccine... (MORE)
https://time.com/6104703/the-storytellin...-behavior/
INTRO: Facts never did change hearts. But until the era of alternative Facebook-style facts, it was a bit easier to pretend that we humans were logical creatures.
Our inability to ingest inconvenient truths is not news to Dr. Jane Goodall, the legendary naturalist. She has spent decades persuading us to change the way we treat animals and the planet, and she does it by talking about her experiences, not with terrifying U.N. climate reports. “If one wants to change attitudes, you have to reach the heart. You can reach the heart by telling stories, not by arguing with people’s intellects,” she says on her new podcast, or as she calls it, her “Hopecast,” and this week’s edition of TIME.
The science backs up her approach (of course). A recent study out of Princeton University using brain imaging showed how while hearing a story our brain waves start to synchronize with those of the storyteller. And the better the listener understood, the more closely the brain wave patterns mirrored those of the storyteller. And that narrative connection allows us to better see a situation from another’s viewpoint, and stories with an emotional bent, engage the affective empathy network of the brain. And that empathy, that ability to see beyond one’s self, is the key to delivering a message that asks us to change our behavior. Research has shown that cultivating empathy has been effective in the campaign to get more Americans to get the COVID-19 vaccine... (MORE)