Who knows what to believe? Becoming storywise is as urgent as a vaccine

It may sound an outrageous claim but In the next 8 weeks, the most threatening infection facing the nation is not Covid19. It is the avalanche of stories and lies coming at us leading up to November 3rd. We desperately need a vaccine for that too and hence this letter to you.

Political machines are going to spend 10 billion dollars trying to infect you with their story, their version of events. Like any opportunistic virus, they will hitch a free ride on the backs of  our narrative vulnerabilities, the stories we most easily fall for, usually the ones we most want to be true. And like COVID19, they will make us sick.

While COVID seems to spread indiscriminately, the Political Machines target us with laser like precision. Our social media use has created a profile that political operatives are using to appeal to our wants and needs, even our fantasies. No side is innocent.

COVID19 sees us as hosts, creating opportunities to spread. The Media-Politics Virus sees us much the same. The operating assumption about us as  audience is we will host and grow the story. It does not matter who, the DNC, the GOP, Fox, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, Facebook or Russia and China, they all assume that we are a nation of suckers, a nation of dupes. They see us as so naive,so innocent, so ignorant and dumb, or just plain stupid that we will fall for any line that they serve up to us, so long as it is in the form that fits our feelings. Don’t trigger us having to think.

Because they think we are a pushover, I want to start a movement that pushes back, a movement to spread the Storywise message that in our story-drenched world, we don’t have to buy what Russia or propagandists in either party are selling. Storywise is offering you a consumer protection program against dangerous stories.

Right now, it’s not COVED19 that we should be worried about. It’s the stories about COVED19 that could get us killed. It’s not the racial violence that we should be worried about so much as the stories we are being told about the racial violence. We should not be so worried about the instances of police brutality. We should be worried about the stories being told to us about what they all mean.

In 2008,Storywise wrote a book called The Presidential Plot on this very issue and we are rushing to reissue it just in time for 2020. We thought to revise and update it but discovered there was no need. We are trapped in the same story addiction, only worse. So here is what we are offering you-

1-Purchase the book here

2-Like our Facebook Page here and spread the word of what storywise is doing

3-Sign up for our newsletter for the next 8 weeks only- this is time bound-the link will expire on November 30th

4-Join our FB group page for online panels and conversations and analysis

The Center for Narrative Studies has been teaching the narrative method and the principles of Narrative Design for over 20 years. While the election will consume us for the next 8 weeks, we are not doing this for any political reason. We want to demonstrate the method and invite you to use the election as your Case Study to prove how Narrative Design can give you insights and strategies for change like no other method can. If you like this is our way of creating herd immunity.

Thank you for reading and we look forward to your joining us. The urgency of our time demands that on November 3rd,  we act with clear heads and calm hearts, free of the fear, hatred and distrust that political debate fuels. We must act storywise.

Sincerely,
P Andrew Costello