Narrative Fallacy: How Do We Perceive Sequences Of Events?

Narrative fallacy is a concept that was popularised by Nassim Taleb in his book ‘The Black Swan’. It describes how we readily create and subscribe to stories to explain complex events. The problem is these stories tend to be simplifications, created not based on facts but our views on them.

This video explains how narrative fallancy translates to our everyday lives. It is not only a literary concept, but also a way we think and communicate with each other on a daily basis. And why is that? The answer is pretty simple: our lazy brains love shortcuts!

This is what author has to say about this phenomenon:

“The narrative fallacy addresses our limited ability to look at sequences of facts without weaving an explanation into them, or, equivalently, forcing a logical link, an arrow of relationship upon them. Explanations bind facts together. They make them all the more easily remembered; they help them make more sense. Where this propensity can go wrong is when it increases our impression of understanding.” —Nassim Nicholas Taleb, The Black Swan