I say often that the fundamental unit of human experience is the story. We love stories. And the best stories are the ones with a sprinkle of drama in them. A story about a rich kid who never struggled? Boring! A story of riches-to-rags-to-riches? Sign me up!
Why? Because stories are a form of SupernormalStimuli. We like to live vicariously through the lives of more interesting people. And it just so happens that the lives of interesting people are usually filled with some amount of suffering that they’re able to transcend. That’s why people like superhero movies. We relate to the struggle and rejoice when the hero wins the battle (for maybe we, too, can overcome our struggles).
I say often that the fundamental unit of human experience is the story. We love stories. And the best stories are the ones with a sprinkle of drama in them. A story about a rich kid who never struggled? Boring! A story of riches-to-rags-to-riches? Sign me up!
Why? Because stories are a form of Supernormal Stimuli. We like to live vicariously through the lives of more interesting people. And it just so happens that the lives of interesting people are usually filled with some amount of suffering that they’re able to transcend. That’s why people like superhero movies. We relate to the struggle and rejoice when the hero wins the battle (for maybe we, too, can overcome our struggles).