Publisher's Synopsis
Think about your life as a bookshelf. The author invites you to sit down with him and pull out the various stories that make up your life. Examples are the Book of Love or Birth, occupation and travel, but also hidden away, the Book of Death. You will go on a journey with the author to explore the various aspects of story telling relating to your life and the world.The book explores how narration is interwoven into our world. The level of the self is explored, and a model of the "embodied and embedded Self" is proposed and discussed. Positive illusions are key in keeping us going via narration. The concept of the other is examined. What is special about a family, and what type of stories are told? The family portrait as frozen time. The other is often perceived as evil such as witches, the political other, or outsiders. How do we use the other to shape stories about the self and groups we belong to?Contemporary issues are investigated for stories such as racism, capitalism, democracy, or conspiracy theories. Which aspects are true and where does story telling start? Does liquid power indicate a constant circulation of elites, or are we getting closer to a truly democratic society?To understand the present, we need to revisit the past. The author takes you back, far back to the exit from the existential cave. What traits emerged during evolution that are still playing out today in shaping our view of the world? Is inequality an economical problem, or a psychological viewpoint, or is this question wrong? We will look at how humans emerged and question the simplistic view that it was an increase in cognition or language acquisition. Is this not another story told by scientists? Could there be a more violent and dark side to human nature that lurks underneath the surface? If we look at contemporary events, it often appears that way. On the journey, you will encounter various thinkers and philosophers such as Friedrich Nietzsche, Michel Foucault, Norbert Elias, Stephen Pinker, Martin Heidegger, and Judith Shklar. There will be a movie night with The Sopranos, The Wire, and Breaking Bad. Make sure you have the popcorn ready. Detective novels and serial killer dramas will be explored to look at our most cherished heroes. Is the detective just a modern day angel? Why do the good guys always win in the end?The book ends with a consolidated system of thought, a Gedankensystem. Disagree or agree, but you are invited to propose your own and join the discussion.
