WEBVTT 00:00:14.061 --> 00:00:16.179 Emily Dickinson said over a century ago 00:00:16.203 --> 00:00:19.623 that "There is no frigate like a book to take us lands away ..." 00:00:19.647 --> 00:00:20.906 And it's true. 00:00:20.930 --> 00:00:24.453 When we pick up a book, turn on the TV, or watch a movie, 00:00:24.477 --> 00:00:28.711 we're carried away down the currents of story into a world of imagination. 00:00:28.735 --> 00:00:32.336 And when we land, on a shore that is both new and familiar, 00:00:32.360 --> 00:00:33.822 something strange happens. 00:00:34.181 --> 00:00:36.379 Stepping onto the shore, we're changed. 00:00:36.403 --> 00:00:38.623 We don't retrace the footsteps of the authors 00:00:38.647 --> 00:00:40.533 or characters we followed here. 00:00:40.557 --> 00:00:43.392 No; instead, we walk a mile in their shoes. 00:00:43.416 --> 00:00:47.595 Researchers in psychology, neuroscience, child development and biology 00:00:47.619 --> 00:00:51.033 are finally starting to gain quantifiable scientific evidence, 00:00:51.057 --> 00:00:53.659 showing what writers and readers have always known: 00:00:53.683 --> 00:00:57.467 that stories have a unique ability to change a person's point of view. 00:00:57.491 --> 00:01:00.628 Scholars are discovering evidence that stories shape culture, 00:01:00.652 --> 00:01:03.721 and that much of what we believe about life comes not from fact, 00:01:03.745 --> 00:01:05.123 but from fiction - 00:01:05.147 --> 00:01:09.510 that our ideas of class, marriage and even gender are relatively new, 00:01:09.534 --> 00:01:12.315 and that many ideologies which held fast for centuries 00:01:12.339 --> 00:01:14.245 were revised within the 18th century, 00:01:14.269 --> 00:01:16.624 and redrafted in the pages of the early novel. 00:01:17.219 --> 00:01:19.730 Imagine a world where class, and not hard work, 00:01:19.754 --> 00:01:21.333 decides a person's worth; 00:01:21.357 --> 00:01:25.042 a world where women are simply men's more untamed copy; 00:01:25.066 --> 00:01:27.848 a world where marriage for love is a novel notion. 00:01:28.326 --> 00:01:31.255 Well, that was the world in which Samuel Richardson's "Pamela" 00:01:31.279 --> 00:01:32.430 first appeared. 00:01:32.454 --> 00:01:35.819 Richardson's love story starred a poor, serving-class heroine, 00:01:35.843 --> 00:01:39.510 who is both more superior and smarter than her upper-class suitor. 00:01:39.934 --> 00:01:42.432 The book, challenging a slew of traditions, 00:01:42.456 --> 00:01:44.001 caused quite a ruckus. 00:01:44.025 --> 00:01:46.976 There was more press for "Pamela" than for Parliament. 00:01:47.000 --> 00:01:49.868 It spawned intense debate and several counter-novels. 00:01:49.892 --> 00:01:52.241 Still, for all those who couldn't accept "Pamela," 00:01:52.265 --> 00:01:54.932 others were eager for this new fictional world. 00:01:54.956 --> 00:01:57.659 This best seller and all its literary heirs - 00:01:57.683 --> 00:02:00.817 "Pride and Prejudice," "Jane Eyre," and yes, even "Twilight" - 00:02:00.841 --> 00:02:04.434 have continuously shared the same tale and taught similar lessons, 00:02:04.458 --> 00:02:06.991 which are now conventional and commonplace. 00:02:07.015 --> 00:02:10.440 Similarly, novels have helped shape the minds of thought leaders 00:02:10.464 --> 00:02:11.889 across history. 00:02:11.913 --> 00:02:14.318 Some scholars say that Darwin's theory of evolution 00:02:14.342 --> 00:02:16.824 is highly indebted to the plots he read and loved. 00:02:16.848 --> 00:02:21.507 His theory privileges intelligence, swiftness, and adaptability to change - 00:02:21.531 --> 00:02:23.529 all core characteristics in a hero. 00:02:23.553 --> 00:02:26.473 Whether you're reading "Harry Potter" or "Great Expectations," 00:02:26.497 --> 00:02:28.992 you're reading the kind of plot that inspired Darwin. 00:02:29.016 --> 00:02:32.533 Yet, recent studies show that his theory might not be the whole story. 00:02:32.557 --> 00:02:35.427 Our sense of being a hero - one man or one woman 00:02:35.451 --> 00:02:38.646 or even one species taking on the challenges of the world - 00:02:38.670 --> 00:02:39.904 might be wrong. 00:02:39.928 --> 00:02:42.365 Instead of being hardwired for competition 00:02:42.389 --> 00:02:44.976 for being the solitary heroes in our own story, 00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:48.056 we might instead be members of a shared quest. 00:02:48.080 --> 00:02:49.640 More Hobbit than Harry. 00:02:50.283 --> 00:02:52.800 Sometimes, of course, the shoes we've been walking in 00:02:52.824 --> 00:02:53.975 can get plain worn out. 00:02:53.999 --> 00:02:56.044 After all, we haven't walked just one mile 00:02:56.068 --> 00:02:58.036 in Jane Austen's or Mark Twain's shoes - 00:02:58.060 --> 00:03:00.600 we've walked about 100 trillion miles in them. 00:03:01.064 --> 00:03:03.899 This isn't to say that we can't read and enjoy the classics; 00:03:03.923 --> 00:03:05.710 we should travel with Dickens, 00:03:05.734 --> 00:03:08.359 let Pip teach us what to expect from ourselves, 00:03:08.383 --> 00:03:12.333 have a talk with Austen and Elizabeth about our prides and prejudices. 00:03:12.357 --> 00:03:14.843 We should float with Twain down the Mississippi, 00:03:14.867 --> 00:03:17.648 and have Jim show us what it means to be good. 00:03:17.672 --> 00:03:19.894 But on our journey, we should also keep in mind 00:03:19.918 --> 00:03:21.616 that the terrain has changed. 00:03:21.640 --> 00:03:23.525 We'll start shopping around for boots 00:03:23.549 --> 00:03:25.755 that were made for walking into a new era. 00:03:25.779 --> 00:03:29.109 Take, for instance, Katniss Everdeen and her battle with the Capitol. 00:03:29.133 --> 00:03:32.900 Can "Hunger Games" lead us into thinking about capitalism in a new way? 00:03:32.924 --> 00:03:34.075 Can it teach us a lesson 00:03:34.099 --> 00:03:37.573 about why the individual should not put herself before the group? 00:03:37.597 --> 00:03:40.451 Will "Uglies" reflect the dangers of pursuing a perfect body 00:03:40.475 --> 00:03:42.702 and letting the media define what is beautiful? 00:03:42.726 --> 00:03:45.514 Will "Seekers" trod a path beyond global warming? 00:03:45.538 --> 00:03:49.439 Will the life-and-death struggles of Toklo, Kallik, Lusa and the other bears 00:03:49.463 --> 00:03:52.986 chart a course for understanding animals and our place in their world? 00:03:53.646 --> 00:03:57.198 Only the future will tell which stories will engage our imagination, 00:03:57.222 --> 00:03:59.731 which tales of make-believe we'll make tomorrow. 00:04:00.248 --> 00:04:01.924 But the good news is this: 00:04:01.948 --> 00:04:04.976 there are new stories to venture in every day, 00:04:05.000 --> 00:04:09.429 new tales that promise to influence, to create and to spark change - 00:04:09.453 --> 00:04:12.111 stories that you might even write yourself. 00:04:12.135 --> 00:04:14.667 So I guess the final question is this: 00:04:15.253 --> 00:04:17.362 What story will you try on next?