What are we doing when we tell fictional stories? It is, on the face of it, one of the more cognitively expensive, pointless, irrational and bizarre traditions that is — as far as we know — universal in human culture. Telling stories about things that really happened is obviously useful — there’s utility in remembering what worked and learning not to repeat what didn’t. But making up events that never happened? And passing these tales on as precious possessions across generations, handing them from parent to child, telling them unceasingly as a centre of who we understand ourselves to be?
当我们讲述虚构故事时，我们究竟在做什么？表面上看，这似乎是人类文化中——据我们所知——一种普遍存在的做法，却在认知上成本高昂、看似无用、非理性且古怪。讲述真实发生过的事情显然是有用的——记住哪些方法有效、避免重蹈覆辙，都具有实际价值。但编造从未发生的事件呢？而且还将这些故事当作珍贵的财富代代相传，由父母传给子女，不断讲述，把它们视为我们理解自我的核心？