Stanford University
by David Eagleman
Why do brains love stories so deeply? Why don’t we simply consult lists of facts? What does this have to do with dreaming, cognitive biases, the evolutionary expansion of the cortex, internal models, and the low-bandwidth nature of words? I will also address AI: Will storytellers find themselves unemployed by AI? How is the answer to that related to diamonds, Westworld, effort, Frankenstein, photography, and Beethoven? I’ll present 4 arguments why I think human storytelling survives and comes out better than ever in this new era.