Narrative is our most powerful technology (Angus Fletcher, Storythinking).

Without it — and the stories it creates — humans would be reduced to only acting individually, never collectively. The sum impact of our species would never surpass the sum impact of one individual human — what someone could learn and create during the span of their lifetime. Science would not exist. Nations would not be formed. When a pandemic swept through our population we wouldn’t come together in a global collective effort to fight the virus, and we couldn’t even imagine a future where that was possible.

Somehow, the more we learn about narrative, the more mystical it sounds — and we talk about “storytellers” as though they practice an old magic either you’re born with — or not.

But that’s just not true.

Narrative is how you already think. You already use narrative, even though no-one taught you. You simply were born this way, whether you’re aware of it or not. It’s how we cope in a world with so much information, so many choices to make, and so much uncertainty. It’s our real-life superpower.

Narrative isn’t a weapon for wielding against opponents, it’s a tool for collaboration. Narrative isn’t for persuasion, it’s for connection — by seeing the world through multiple points of view. Narrative isn’t for right or wrong — it’s for a multitude of possibilities.

Narrative is what enables humans — and only humans — to create change.

Our future as a species is clear: the only path forward is one of collaboration and collective effort. We have what we need: an innate ability to organize and communicate information in a way that enables masses of humans to work as one. What remains: a deepened awareness of the stories we tell and whether or not we are using them to build a future that brings us together around shared problems.

If we do, It will be the greatest achievement of humankind.