Narrative

Two headlines compete for your attention: A: “Multifaceted approaches to ameliorating socioeconomic disparities” B: “Why poor people stay poor” Both convey similar ideas. But you clicked on B, didn’t you? Or at least your brain wanted to. This isn’t about intelligence or laziness. It’s about cognitive fluency—one of the most powerful forces determining which stories spread and which die in obscurity. What Is Cognitive Fluency? Cognitive fluency is the subjective ease with which our brains process information. ...

Have you ever missed your bus stop because you were engrossed in a podcast? Stayed up way too late because you needed to know how the book ends? Felt your heart race during a movie scene even though you knew it wasn’t real? That’s not a character flaw. That’s neuroscience. Stories don’t just entertain us—they hijack our brain chemistry. And understanding how this works can transform you from someone who tells stories to someone who creates irresistible narratives. ...