Stories simplify ideas

“After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.” -- Philip Pullman

A famous and powerful story told in just six words: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”

This tiny story is a great example of the power of storytelling. A snippet full of emotion and context. So much can be said with so little. Today's blog explores how stories mimic the way our mind works - helping us feel, connect and remember. If there are two things you get from today's blog, it is that i) the storyteller has to make choices to simplify and ii) choices are not neutral. Winston Churchill wittily said 'History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it'. There is nothing rarer than a history book, that paints the storyteller as useless.

Storytelling has many dimensions to it

Why we communicate in stories

If there is one thread running through all 132(!!) episodes of the blog, it is that there is more data out there than we could possibly process. At all times, we have data from our five senses coming in plus messages from our brain about how we feel. We cannot process or store that much data. If we tried, our working memory would not be overwhelmed. To manage this we pick things that seem relevant and weave that selected data into an idea.

Our brain fits a model to our experiences. This might be in the form of rules-of-thumb like "Buy dark chocolate because it is less more-ish than milk chocolate" (if you know, you know!). This simple model fits our experiences to an idea we can act upon.

In that way, our practical unit of learning is a story. We can learn from the experience of others, and use their conclusion without needing to be exposed to all of the data. It is thought that this idea, separates humans from mere animals.

We encounter stories all the time, ranging from the sacred to the everyday. Let's take a doctor's appointment. Your doctor might have dozens of statistics and expert comments, but may simplify it into simple story:

“Looking at your blood tests and the MRI scan, I see a small spot on your thyroid and higher-than-normal inflammation levels. It looks like you have a harmless thyroid nodule. It’s nothing to worry about right now, so instead of surgery, we’ll keep an eye on it with regular check-ups to make sure it stays that way.”

The doctor's story is so efficient. The symptoms, the underlying cause, some reassurance and next steps.

Stories help us weave together data

What makes a story?

At its core, a story is a narrative that ties together some facts. It is a thread between objects or events. Sometimes it gives us a “why” something happened - “she pinched me first” (people who look after children will know this one!). Sometimes it might implicitly make a prediction about the future, “every time the S&P 500 has gone above its 200 day average it has gone up in price”. Other times still, it might help us access our higher selves by highlighting the actions of people we respect “The Pope wanted to be buried as a Christian not a King”.

The key point is when people put together stories, they are doing the heavy lifting for us. This makes the appeal for story-telling strong - we are being spoonfed what to focus on and how it all ties together. BUT, listening to stories means you are placing huge trust in who is telling you, as stories require choices.

Stories are choices

Great stories can feel exciting, emotive and engaging. We want to hear more. Great storytellers can also explain complicated things in a simple way. They take you on a journey with easy language, clear steps and tell you (only) what is relevant. In everyday life we need to tell stories all the time, like giving directions, explaining what we have done, and why we had a good or bad day at work. Bad storytelling is hard work. Look at the two descriptions below of a humble toaster:

Description Type	Description
Complicated	A toaster is an electromechanical countertop appliance that heats bread by driving AC current through resistive nichrome coils inside insulated slots. Depressing the lever engages an electromagnetic latch, heating to ~200 °C and browning via Maillard reactions. A timing or thermostat then cuts power, releasing the latch and popping up the carriage—while a thermal cutoff fuse and crumb tray ensure safety and cleanup.
Easy	A toaster is an appliance for browning bread. To make a toast you put a piece of bread in the slot, push the lever and it pops up when it’s done. Heated coils in the toaster provide the heat that browns it and a tray underneath catches the crumbs.

The first one chooses complicated language, where simple language would do. It includes jargon, and also provides too much information. The essence of good storytelling is making choices.

Choices are not neutral

A story can also take sides. Let's take the example of an accident where one car was turning onto a road and seconds later got rear-ended by a speeding car. Both drivers may feel hard done by. So what choices could you make in telling this story?

The storyteller has a power to decide, who was in the right and what you get to hear about it

As we start to break down the choices that are made in stories we understand why an event can be described so differently between two people. We are currently going through a number of wars and the stories are constantly being tailored to help persuade others that "we are good and they are evil".

What it means for the listener

Once you start seeing the choices storytellers need to make, you see their power. Storytellers make important choices when they simplify the data and weave a narrative.

As a listener your job is to find a storyteller that can simplify and inform you, trusting the choices they make. This will help your learning, entertainment and connection to the world around you.

So what?

1. Our brains filter overwhelming sensory data into simple models or narratives we can act on. Stories are our practical unit of learning.

2. Effective storytellers make deliberate choices—what details to include, which perspective to adopt, how much backstory to reveal—and those choices shape meaning.

3. Simple narratives like a doctor’s explanation convey complex information efficiently.

4. Stories are not neutral: framing, fault assignment, and selective facts can persuade or mislead, especially in high-stakes contexts.

5. As listeners, we must recognise that choices need to be made and critically select whose stories we trust.

Next week I will be discussing "What are narratives?". Until then, please sign up to receive the blog directly to your email at Blog | Deciders.