[mousebender]

Great piece. "How efficiently it enables us to forget to look up and ask: What is it that story does not allow us to see?"--that's a good guideline for critical reading and thought. The trend of narrative leads to journalism by individual anecdote, and that's a sign to keep an eye out for spin and deception. It was a surprise to know that storytelling had its skeptics even in Plato's time. To improve understanding and to improve the lives of mankind, the world needs explanations with data, logic, a critical eye, and plausible causation--not stories.