Stories shape our lives. They carry the religion, the traditions, the culture, and the relationships that form us into who we are and what we believe. Sometimes we are able to articulate the stories of our lives well, while at other times we may be unaware of the impact that certain stories have had on us. As you examine the way that you think and decide, it is important for you to know what stories have shaped you.
In the following TED Talk from 2009, Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Adichie describes the true power of stories:
Reflect on the stories that have shaped your life, informed your thinking, and possibly impacted how you make decisions. Consider the following:
- What are the primary stories of your life?
- How have they formed your identity? Your view of others? Your faith? Your politics? Your decision-making processes?
Sometimes we are unaware of the stories that have impacted us and informed our thinking. We make snap judgments at all levels—about food, weather, people, and ideologies. But what is it that is shaping our thinking in these moments? In his popular book, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, Malcolm Gladwell uses a wide variety of stories to better help us understand ourselves and what is going on in our thought processes (summary of book).
One tool that is available for measuring your thinking and examining your decision making processes is an interesting set of exercises available at the following website.
Discussion Questions:
- What did you learn about yourself and your thought processes through this exercise? Was anything particularly surprising to you?
- What connections do you make with what you learned in this exercise and stories that have shaped your life? How do you think these affect the decisions that you have made and are making?
- If you were to choose a biblical story with which you really connect, what would it be? Why did you choose it? Mediate on this story this week and see how it affects your thinking, your decision-making.
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7 responses to “The Power of Story”
From taking the Implicit Association Test I learned that I am not good at making my fingers do what my mind tells me to! I had a very difficult time hitting the buttons i wanted to hit especially whenever it began to flip flop the categories. I feel that a lot of our views on things such as politics and religion can be based on what we have been told by our family or our society and this was reflected during this test. I feel that the views we have greatly impact the way we live our lives and the ways that we act upon situations.
I learned from this test that I can identify things with Judaism and Christianity more easily because I am more familiar with these religions. When the test asked me about Hinduism and Islam, I fumbled with the keys and screwed up the answers. I can connect this exercise with stories that have shaped my life because I have grown up being told stories of Christianity. I can identify and recognize these stories more easily, and so I have made my decisions based on the Christian stories that I know. If I were to choose a biblical story that I most connect with, it would be the story of Jesus and Peter walking on the water. Many times I forgot about Jesus and look down; if I am always focusing on him, my faith can allow me to do anything.
The primary stories in my life include biblical stories and just stories of me and my family through the years. Both of these stories have shaped me into the person I am today. God and my family are 2 huge priorities in my life, and without them, I do not know where or who I would be. I view others differently because I have been taught that I need to love my neighbor as myself and of course the golden rule-“do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” I have a faith in something greater than this world. I am constantly reminded every day by my family that God has a bigger and better plan than my own, and I need to keep trusting him and stop worrying so He can come in and take control! I have grown up with these priorities; they are what is familiar to me, and they have shaped every aspect of my life.
I took the first test about how you view age, and I apparently prefer young people to old people. I’m not entirely sure I understand what that test is all about but I learned that when they flip the catagories its alot harder to keep track of what is what.
I think I could identify better with what the lady in the video was talking about as opposed to the test. What she said about how stories you hear about in your childhood shape your view on things is really true and about how stereotypes cloud people’s minds to the way some things actually are. It is interesting to look back on the things I was told as a child about certain subjects or people groups, and realize that what i thought I knew about them was wrong.
I grew up in church and with all of the typical sunday school stories. They are really dear to me especially now that I understand the faith behind those stories and the hand of God in the people’s lives and God’s ultimate plan through Jesus in both the new and old testaments.
I took the first test on religion and was somewhat surprised of the results. t said that I take Christianity and Judaism in higher regard than that of Hinduism and Islam, but all for were very close to the middle of the spectrum in terms of acceptance. I think it highlights the point that there are so many biases that i am unaware of that I have, and its kind of disturbing to think about. It makes me want to find out just what other bias I may hold in my subconscious.
First of all, I greatly enjoyed the video about the power of story. I never really gave it much thought, but now I realize stories do have power over our lives. Looking back to my childhood I remember hearing certain stories about certain groups and making judgments solely on one view point. It is very interesting to think that one story can create several stereotypes. Like the speaker in the video I too feel ashamed for letting one story have so much power over my life. I have been on the other side of the issue and did not like the feeling I got when I realized I was included in a stereotype. I am truly sorry if I have ever made anyone else feel the way I felt.
Secondly, I took the test over weight, and was very satisfied with my results. I went into the test believing that I had no preference towards thin or fat people, and the test verified my beliefs. While I was satisfied with my results I do think they had more to do with the questions I answered after. The test to me has too many variables to be accurate. Whether your left or right handed can influence your results, how well you work under pressure, or even how well your focus affects the test. I simply try and surround myself with people who share the same interest and have good personalities, and I am glad the test reflected that despite its many variables.
I took the “age” Implicit Association Test and trying to push a key on the keyboard to tell a picture or word to go to one side is difficult. When the pictures and words popped up, I saw it in my head of where to place it, but my fingers were a little slow of getting there. In the beginning of the sorting, it was easy because it was just one option, but then the program brought in a second option and it became more difficult.
The stories that were told in the video shows that the way you are raised can affect the way you view the world. In America, people tell us ALL THE TIME that Africa needs our help and they are living poorly, but that’s not the whole truth. As the woman said, she was living fine, and they were not poor, even though they do live differently from us. Her room mate assumed that she was new to America and she didn’t know how to use appliances that everyone uses around the world. Just because someone is raised a certain way that does not mean that they can still assume these things all the time. She should have approached hr African room mate differently. If it was me I would have been offended if someone thought I didn’t know how to use everyday things.
I can sort of relate to Mark 3:31-35, it is about Jesus’ mother and brothers. They came to see him (but they didn’t believe in what he was doing, like saying he is the Son of God), and someone was sent to tell Jesus that they were here to speak with him, but he questioned it saying “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” He then says “Anyone who obeys God is my brother or sister or mother.” That is the way I view other people that I see that are “in Christ,” and I think alot more people need to view Christians the same way instead of judging, criticizing, and treating each other with disrespect.
In response to the video I can now understand just how great of an impact the way we were brought up and the society that we live in can have on our outlook on stories in society and across the world. We sometimes think that just because people live differently than we do that they are poor and helpless. The fact of the matter is that sometimes just because someone over seas lives in different conditions, doesn’t mean that they have nothing at all. Someone living in great happiness in Africa might be look upon as someone in struggle and in need when in reality they have everything they could ever need. That is huge in my opinion to realize because we must not take our blessings and compare them to another society. Societies differ for a reason and we must be aware of this in order to fully see someones situation.