I think there are many facets to the reality of stories. One of them is we like to ask questions and then get answers. Stories do that for us. Then the best way to write a story is to ask questions and find answers. Curiosity is a strong force within us. Curiosity makes us ask questions and listen or observe how others do it. Children do this very well. That is why stories are so important to them.

Please read this article. Says it a lot better than I could: http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/201103/the-inside-story

Forbes has a review of a book that covers the scientific evidence for why story-telling works. Science of Storytelling

escapism. i love telling stories because it allows me to escape into worlds i could never experience otherwise. that's what i had no choice but to become a writer. i want others to experience my worlds.

Take away all the stories and what do you have left? Equations, algorithms, facts. But if we never told stories would we ever ask the questions that make us explore? We tell stories to feel. To create. To communicate. We tell stories to ask questions. We were born this way: Talking Twin Babies Baby Makes A Speech Talking Baby Star Wars According To A 3 Year Old

I just want to say that the responses in this thread with the excellent links confirms this fact of my life: I respect the hell out of the GITS community. It proves once again you folks really care about this stuff. Writing a script is not just about plugging plot points or filling in beats, but digging into the heart and soul of the story. In other words, thank you for being you. And for bringing your insights and positive energy to this place.

"The harsh reality of death gets demystified in a way by stories enabling us as individuals to incorporate that reality into our lives by the time we understand the permanence of dying." ah...such romance. Now only if we could demystify love, hate, identity, individuality, ethics, religion, violence, vice, emotions, reason and relationships through the power of story and storytelling so that we might incorporate these realities into our lives by the time we understand the permanence of dying (late on in life is not bad either)and get some sense of who we are and what the hell is the purpose of it all...and might i add, earn a living out of it as well.

The depth of the philosophical thinking here is as staggering as it is delicious, sustaining and inspiring. On a much simpler level, about the physical energy driving the appeal of story... Our imaginations require stirring. They long for it, come alive with it. That 4 gallon pot, sitting atop the stove of our own particular Self in the kitchen of Jung's collective unconscious -- that is our imagination. It needs fresh stock, it wants to be stirred, it calls out for new conncotions. Stories do this splendidly well.

Taking a step back for a larger view of stories. Stories were told in villages as entertainment, as a way of giving a sense of history and the past, to bring shared themes to life, to teach morals and ethics, to provide expectations and role models to live up to. We've divided teaching and entertainment. Teaching is now supposed to be dry facts imparted, and entertainment a meaningless diversion. But A Tale Of Two Molecules would be more meaningful than a science class or The Hangover.

I don’t think Death is the only, or primary, element we grapple with through stories – although we’re certainly being given limitless opportunities to contemplate death with the kinds of films that are being made these days. We experience the world through others’ stories and consider our own responses and actions to similar circumstances. In this way we gain expanded options about how to deal with what life presents us, and clarity about our own preferences, leading to increased possibility and more informed choices for myself. I would only know my own limited life experience without a window on what else is happening in the world … and beyond.

First of all, thanks Scott for bringing my question to the entire GITS community. A lot of great answers! It sounds like there's a consensus that stories are about understanding. Understanding ourselves, understanding others, and understanding the world. That gives a writer a lot of responsibility, doesn't it? If not to have the right answers, at least to have the right questions. But if we compare that philosophy of story to a mass audience's philosophy of story, I wonder what you get.