The story of the self

Total accuracy about our lives is at best tedious and at worst debilitating.

To begin with, we might question the assumption that accuracy is the gold standard. Suppose that there was a way of compiling an exhaustive list of facts about a person’s life, documenting their every experience, no matter how insignificant. Whilst this would certainly generate a body of data relating to that person, it’s not clear that we would learn very much about them from such a list - the sheer amount of data would be overwhelming and much of it would be uninformative, if not tedious.

Suppose now that instead of a list, a narrative could be constructed using the individual’s experiences. The experiences would be interpreted, with the narrative emphasising certain patterns and anomalies, arranging information around significant turning points, and drawing attention to causal links. In place of a list, a story about that person’s life would unfold with various arcs, tensions, and resolutions. This story would be edited so that trivial details were removed, while a degree of artistic licence would permit the odd embellishment.

Article Referenced:
https://www.psychological-consulting.com