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Emily Dickinson said over a century ago

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that "There is no frigate
like a book to take us lands away ..."

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And it's true.

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When we pick up a book,
turn on the TV, or watch a movie,

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we're carried away down the currents
of story into a world of imagination.

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And when we land, on a shore
that is both new and familiar,

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something strange happens.

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Stepping onto the shore, we're changed.

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We don't retrace
the footsteps of the authors

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or characters we followed here.

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No; instead, we walk a mile
in their shoes.

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Researchers in psychology, neuroscience,
child development and biology

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are finally starting to gain
quantifiable scientific evidence,

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showing what writers and readers
have always known:

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that stories have a unique ability
to change a person's point of view.

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Scholars are discovering evidence
that stories shape culture,

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and that much of what we believe
about life comes not from fact,

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but from fiction -

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that our ideas of class, marriage
and even gender are relatively new,

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and that many ideologies
which held fast for centuries

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were revised within the 18th century,

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and redrafted in the pages
of the early novel.

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Imagine a world where class,
and not hard work,

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decides a person's worth;

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a world where women
are simply men's more untamed copy;

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a world where marriage for love
is a novel notion.

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Well, that was the world
in which Samuel Richardson's "Pamela"

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first appeared.

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Richardson's love story
starred a poor, serving-class heroine,

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who is both more superior and smarter
than her upper-class suitor.

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The book, challenging
a slew of traditions,

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caused quite a ruckus.

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There was more press for "Pamela"
than for Parliament.

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It spawned intense debate
and several counter-novels.

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Still, for all those
who couldn't accept "Pamela,"

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others were eager
for this new fictional world.

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This best seller
and all its literary heirs -

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"Pride and Prejudice,"
"Jane Eyre," and yes, even "Twilight" -

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have continuously shared the same tale
and taught similar lessons,

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which are now conventional
and commonplace.

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Similarly, novels have helped
shape the minds of thought leaders

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across history.

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Some scholars say
that Darwin's theory of evolution

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is highly indebted to the plots
he read and loved.

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His theory privileges intelligence,
swiftness, and adaptability to change -

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all core characteristics in a hero.

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Whether you're reading
"Harry Potter" or "Great Expectations,"

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you're reading the kind of plot
that inspired Darwin.

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Yet, recent studies show that his theory
might not be the whole story.

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Our sense of being a hero -
one man or one woman

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or even one species
taking on the challenges of the world -

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might be wrong.

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Instead of being hardwired for competition

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for being the solitary heroes
in our own story,

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we might instead be members
of a shared quest.

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More Hobbit than Harry.

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Sometimes, of course,
the shoes we've been walking in

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can get plain worn out.

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After all, we haven't walked just one mile

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in Jane Austen's or Mark Twain's shoes -

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we've walked about
100 trillion miles in them.

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This isn't to say that we can't
read and enjoy the classics;

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we should travel with Dickens,

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let Pip teach us
what to expect from ourselves,

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have a talk with Austen and Elizabeth
about our prides and prejudices.

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We should float with Twain
down the Mississippi,

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and have Jim show us
what it means to be good.

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But on our journey,
we should also keep in mind

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that the terrain has changed.

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We'll start shopping around for boots

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that were made for walking into a new era.

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Take, for instance, Katniss Everdeen
and her battle with the Capitol.

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Can "Hunger Games" lead us into thinking
about capitalism in a new way?

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Can it teach us a lesson

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about why the individual should not
put herself before the group?

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Will "Uglies" reflect the dangers
of pursuing a perfect body

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and letting the media
define what is beautiful?

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Will "Seekers" trod a path
beyond global warming?

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Will the life-and-death struggles
of Toklo, Kallik, Lusa and the other bears

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chart a course for understanding animals
and our place in their world?

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Only the future will tell which stories
will engage our imagination,

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which tales of make-believe
we'll make tomorrow.

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But the good news is this:

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there are new stories
to venture in every day,

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new tales that promise to influence,
to create and to spark change -

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stories that you might
even write yourself.

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So I guess the final question is this:

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What story will you try on next?