Empathy, Neurochemistry, and the Dramatic Arc: Paul Zak at the Future of StoryTelling 2012

See the full playlist of FoST Films here: • Future of StoryTelling...
The emotionally charged story recounted at the beginning Dr. Paul Zak's film-of a terminally ill two-year-old named Ben and his father-offers a simple yet remarkable case study in how the human brain responds to effective storytelling. As part of his study, Dr. Zak, a founding pioneer in the emerging field of neuroeconomics, closely monitored the neural activity of hundreds of people who viewed Ben's story. What he discovered is that even the simplest narrative, if it is highly engaging and follows the classic dramatic arc outlined by the German playwright Gustav Freytag, can evoke powerful empathic responses associated with specific neurochemicals, namely cortisol and oxytocin. Those brain responses, in turn, can translate readily into concrete action-in the case of Dr. Zak's study subjects, generous donations to charity and even monetary gifts to fellow participants. By contrast, stories that fail to follow the dramatic arc of rising action/climax/denouement-no matter how outwardly happy or pleasant those stories may be-elicit little if any emotional or chemical response, and correspond to a similar absence of action. Dr. Zak's conclusions hold profound implications for the role of storytelling in a vast range of professional and public milieus.

[@DrDanWeaver]

Excellent. Is there any way to stop these tools being appropriated by ruthless and parasitic marketing organisations? What is the effect of constant leverage through advertising of our empathetic responses? I'm thinking in particular of Sainsbury's despicable (but fairly common under current status quo) Christmas ad in UK where they used football players in WW1 trenches sharing Christmas to sell their supermarket... probably after some of their marketing team read about this kind of research...

[@StephenEvermore]

Great questions. www.commercialfreechildhood.org/

[@connorsp]

Nobody likes to be manipulated. When we recognize it, it really pisses us off. Being authentic and having a moral to the story that connects with the good of people is better. Read Jonah Sachs' book: StoryTelling Wars. It's a eye opener.

[@anthonyfunk7892]

I imagine the effect of having our empathy constantly engaged would be empathy burnout.
Studies show that training in perspective-taking is an effective way to reduce empathy burnout.

[@jonwise3419]

You guys gave very nice references. Thanks!

[@user-qp1jh5vm8m]

More everyonemore evidence danmation .

[@carltallon2130]

this is possibly the greatest youtube video ive ever seen

[@kylepolson5012]

bruh

[@Unreversall]

Can we get the full data ? The full study with numbers and stats ? i'm writing a paper on gender, storytelling and how they impact one another. Proper data I could refer to would be a great help !

[@karencornwell2208]

So the original Silva method has been absorbed into the mindvalley product / company alone?

[@tobiaszb]

Very distracting background noise.
Good info:)
Any links to statstics of those experiments?

[@BrigitteBell]

Fascinating!

[@EPJS]

I'm not sure whether Dr. Zak has found really new insights into this field. When I listened to this I remembered the stories of Milton Erikson who'd used story telling long ago for hypnosis

[@TVCChannelNews]

Amazing video! :D

[@drkull]

Excellent work, but missed a point. The essence of story is conflict: man against man, man against nature, man against himself. Conflict helps us to learn, to dissolve the past and embrace the future. Story not only grabs attention but focuses it toward value. When shared, the narrative architecture of meaning is captured by memes. i.e. ideas collect people, not the other way around. As individuals we act as catalysts for creativity. Our hero's journey - our arc - crystalizes our authenticity.

[@tamasinmac3124]

And woman. Man against acknowledging 51% of the planet's population certainly causes conflict. Clearly still a lot to learn, as the misogynist past is dissolved and an equal future embraced...

[@MiskinakD]

shades of the Manchurian candidate there...

[@numbersletters2920]

Where am i?

[@Ben-mn4px]

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[@mickeyguitarwes]

confusing the principle of compelling persuasion, advertising and/or propaganda with the principles of literature and journalism.

[@zarkoff45]

DARPA wants to know how stories effect brain chemistry.
DARPA might want to think about how movies and video games alter brain chemistry. Action and adventure are different than father and son stories.

[@val632]

Anyone here from cms

[@bongripperr]

yup

[@val632]

@@bongripperr damn that was a year ago

[@bongripperr]

@@val632 haha yeah but i was in cms watching the video

[@val632]

@@bongripperr u in 6th?

[@bongripperr]

@@val632 lol no 9th

[@snooppsp]

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