How to See Through a Convincing Story
We all know that person who has an excuse for everything, why they didn’t get the work done, why they fell out with a friend, why they haven’t been nice lately, or why they didn’t last in a previous job. It doesn’t matter what the context is there’s always a reason for it, and it’s often never their fault (according to them), it’s a classic example of what Daniel Kahneman calls Psychopathic Charm, but more on that later.
In Australian culture, we often refer to these people (or liars) as storytellers, as we know when this happens, because the reactions from people witnessing are often the same:
“Yep, old mate Anthony’s telling stories again”
”Hows this, Karen has another story for why this didn’t happen”
”lol, it’s never Davids fault, it’s always someone else's”
There’s a great reason why liars are called story tellers, its because... they’re great at telling stories.
Why liars tell stories
Firstly it’s important to establish what a story is. Fundamentally, a story is a series of events packaged up into a summary. This summary is designed to save time, in order to keep listeners as engaged as much as possible, for as long as possible. A summary, by nature, creates a version of the truth, specifically, the storytellers version of the truth, and as they saying goes, you should never let the truth get in the way of a good story.
Aside from the power to control a narrative with a selective summary, there are additional scientific reasons as to why stories are so effective at persuading. This traces back to human biological origins, revealing that we’ve been hardwired from the start to be be fooled by narratives.
Why stories are so effective for persuasion
As humans, we are irrational by nature, our brains are easily fooled by many things. It’s a weakness thats simply a by-product of our greatest strength during evolution, the gift of instinctive thinking, the gift of intuition. In other words, our brains have been hardwired to take the easiest route possible, in order get to an answer quickly, with the least amount of mental work required.
This quick, intuitive thinking has held us humans in great stead for survival over thousands of years, particularly when the food chain between humans and all other species wasn’t so heavily in our favour. However, the blessing of instinct is also a curse, as we default to this instinctive thinking as much as possible in everyday life, due to it requiring less mental energy. Our brain will always opt for the most efficient way to get to an answer.
This lazy, instinctive part of our brain leaves us vulnerable to explanations that ‘logically makes sense’, or ‘seems about right’. The simplest of explanations can be agreed to by the brain if they flow smoothly and encourage the listener not to think too hard. This is why stories are so effective, they flow in real time, they present a series of events (like real life) and the picture is painted for you by the story teller. Essentially, stories take you on a journey and do the thinking for you, rather than encouraging you to think. They trick your brain to accept truths that may not actually be true.
This is why story telling using selective summaries has been such a powerful (and abused) tool for thousands of years, and why it’s just as powerful today.
Interrogate selective summaries in order to find the truth
A story is always told as a summary from the storytellers perspective. It’s because of this selective summary that we must never take a story on face value, we must always interrogate stories in order to find the real truth.
Nobel Prize winner, Daniel Kahneman also writes about this extensively in his book, Thinking Fast and Slow. He writes about the importance of looking (or seeking) historical behavioural patterns to draw a conclusion, rather than getting sucked in to the trappings of a great, convincing narrative.
He refers to people who use the narrative tool as those with Psychopathic Charm. A great example of this is from his book:
“You will from time to time meet a patient who shares a disturbing tale of multiple mistakes in his previous treatment. He has been seen by several clinicians, and all failed him. The patient can lucidly describe how his therapists misunderstood him, but he has quickly perceived that you are different. You share the same feeling, are convinced that you understand him, and will be able to help.” … “Do not even think of taking on this patient! Throw him out of the office! He is most likely a psychopath and you will not be able to help him.” - Daniel Kahneman
This illustrates why you should always look to find historical, behavioural patterns to determine a decision or outcome, while ignoring the trap of someone else’s selective narrative. In the case above, there is no evidence to suggest the new doctor will be any different, if we look at the behaviour from the past. However, there is a clear denominator from all the failings, and it’s not the past clinicians, it’s the patient himself.
Talk is very cheap, action and past behaviour is everything. What someone has done defines who they are, particularly if there is a clear pattern. What they say is often how they wish to be defined.
Key takeouts to see through Psychopathic Charm:
Know the flaws of your brain: Understand that you’re biologically conditioned to buy in to a good story, your brain wants to believe it, as it’s the easiest way out to an answer.
A storyteller selects carefully: A story by nature is a summary, always keep in mind that what you’re hearing is an edited version of the full truth.
Don't listen to what they say, look at what they’ve done: Psychopathic Charmers use stories as a powerful tool to gloss over facts, so approach every narrative with a good dose of skepticism. Always look at behavioural histories to guide your decisions, find the common denominator in a historical pattern and don’t let yourself be convinced that ‘this time is different’
Stories can be a superpower, use them wisely: We know how humans respond to stories, so when you need to sell an idea, or teach a thought, use the power of the narrative in your favour and invoke stories to engage an audience.