Second Blog Response

If you were to look up the definition of storytelling on google, it simply states,"someone who tells a story." That definition is too humdrum for me. So I googled the definition of "story- "an account of imaginary or real people and events told for entertainment." Furthermore, the part I like the best, "an account of past events in someone's life or in the evolution of something." The evolution of something.. .. the evolution of Neverland perhaps? After reading chapter two of Gottschalls book, I feel a bit more comfortable in what storytelling is. I perceive storytelling as a way for people to make sense of their world. In the Witchery of Story, on pages 10 and 11 dreaming is addressed. Researchers believe we dream all night, and when we wake, the dreaming only continues. When we daydream we are replaying scenarios of the day, things we wish we could have done differently, things we want to achieve, etc. We are constantly in an active state of dream to make sense of our reality. The chapter also mentions that we are somewhat fortune tellers. We daydream about our future, our goals, and we can very vaguely see it. Story helps us not only make sense of our lives, but allows us to envision things and set them on a road towards reality.

I don't think story is a dying art by any means, its completely thriving. Story is ubiquitous, its inescapable. And I think with the advancements in technology, storytelling is only becoming more interesting and captivating. A good example would be sports. I would have never categorized sports, or sport networks as a medium for story telling. However, for years people assumed pro wrestling was real, but recently has been classified by the CEO of WWE as "sports entertainment". The CEO is banking on the stories of each wrestler. Pitting good guy against bad guy, underdog against hero. Furthermore, in the book it mentions most, if not all sporting events structure stories to captivate the fan. By structuring stories about fighters or players, the listener gets to be an active participant in the storyline. After all, the writers are just guiding the story, but we as the listener or reader determine the details.

Neverland exists in our pre frontal cortex, the area of the brain that makes us human, makes us who we are. Since our brain is always going, and we are constantly interpreting the world as we see it- our pre frontal cortex is the part of us making sense of it all. This area along with the limbic system, paralimbic system, brain stem, and other areas of the cortex are all associated with dreaming. I think since being in Neverland means letting your mind wander and envelope itself in story, these areas of the brain would be responsible for that subconscious thinking. Alright,  now that I've gotten my biological aspect of Neverland out of the way, my human communication areas would say Neverland is wherever you are. Neverland is at lunch when your talking to your sister, at school talking to your friends, in your car on the way home from a long day, and its in your home when you recount your day to your loved ones. It is apparent, and unavoidable that we all go to Neverland the second our mind is free of obligating thoughts.