Shankar Vedantam

What is true in fiction is true in real life as well.

How we tell stories, including the stories of our own lives, has profound consequences for our well-being.

Whom we include, whom we exclude, and what point of view we take, all these choices alter how we feel about ourselves and the world.

We explored the science of stories and what's known as narrative psychology in a recent episode of Hidden Brain titled U2.0, Change Your Story, Change Your Life.

Our guest was Jonathan Adler, a psychologist at Olin College.

Today, Jonathan returns to answer listeners' questions about personal stories and how they shape our lives.

Jonathan Adler, welcome back to Hidden Brain.

Oh, thank you so much for having me.

Jonathan, we're constantly telling ourselves stories, and even small details are important in weaving the narrative of who we are.

I'm going to start by having you tell me the story of your day today.

What happened since you woke up?

Well, this morning I got up, I helped my kids get off to school.

They are in fifth and seventh grade, so they are navigating their own autonomy and what they're in charge of, but also attending to the clock.

And then I came here to campus and I had a little bit of time to get some work done.

I met with my new first year advisees over lunch to get them oriented.

And then I came here to the sound studio to get ready to talk with you.

I have to confess that one reason we ask people this question sometimes is to establish audio levels and to make sure they're sounding good.

But in the context of this conversation I'm having with you, Jonathan, can you just articulate for a moment why the stories we tell about our own lives are so important?

Sure.

That story, I don't know, meets any kind of criterion for interesting or important story.