We understand things by telling ourselves a story about them
Quote
I have to think about what I saw and tell myself a story about that thing. That's how we understand things. And the storytelling is the infusion of meaning into a thing so that we can understand what that thing is.
Episode 206: Substance Dualist (episode page, opens in a new tab) 01:08:45 (play audio from this timestamp, opens in a new tab)
Voice-matched
Summary
Television makes you a kind of alpha-wave zombie: you experience images and sounds, then afterward tell yourself a story about what you saw. That's why people say 'I need a minute to process this.' Dave says storytelling is how we infuse meaning into a thing so we can understand it.