It’s one of those occasions in life when I feel like Bill Murray’s translator.
Fiction, Dr. Oatley notes, “is a particularly useful simulation because negotiating the social world effectively is extremely tricky, requiring us to weigh up myriad interacting instances of cause and effect. Just as computer simulations can help us get to grips with complex problems such as flying a plane or forecasting the weather, so novels, stories and dramas can help us understand the complexities of social life.”
(from Your Brain on Fiction.)
Which translates to, stories can teach you about life.
