The Story and the Science
One morning, long ago, an ape woke up, and said “I think… I’ll go for a walk in the jungle.” Many jungle beasts before had taken walks, but they would never “think” about it; they would just do. So we’ll call this ape, “Man.”
It was sunny, but as Man walked, the jungle became dark and mysterious. He was thinking about getting home. Suddenly, two lions leaped onto his path! He thought about running but was paralyzed with fear.
One of the lions spoke: “We are the lions from the jungle of your mind! I am ‘The Story’, and my brother is ‘The Science’! Someday you will call these ‘Metaphors’!"
Then “The Science” spoke: “Do you know how many men are eaten by lions every year? Exactly zero. There is a very low probability that you'll be the first Man ever eaten by a lion." Not to be outdone, the Story simply ROARED at Man!
The Story had made the more compelling argument, and Man ran, without thinking, all the way home. He told the other apes in his village about the lions, and they proceeded to burn down the jungle, several neighboring ape villages, and some witches just for good measure.
Many years later, Man and the other apes were tired of burning and being burned. Man wearily put out his best burning-torch after a long day, and the two lions appeared again.
“What about those apes in that village over the hill?" said the Story. "You can’t stop now – they'll burn down your village if you don't get to them first!”
But the Science had another idea. He showed Man charcoal, sulfur, and potassium nitrate. “Someday you will call this ‘gunpowder’!” By listening to the Science, Man easily took over the ape village over the hill, and the next one. He learned how to turn steam turbines, cure mysterious plagues (present crisis included), and took over the entire world, which, according to the Science (and frankly a little embarassing that I even need to clarify this), is ROUND.
But the Science alone couldn’t inspire this kind of ambition, with his equations, experiments and clinical trials. Inspiration came from the Story: fear, love, loss, revenge, apple pie, the Star Spangled Banner, and second-string quarterbacks winning the Super Bowl! GO BIRDS!!
Many more years later, in spite of said Super Bowl victory, things were really not good for Man, apes, or lions. A rabid orangutan was in charge, and the world was heating up and in some places literally on fire. The Story was always angry and full of bad news. The news from the Science was arguably even worse. Man had accomplished great things listening to the two lions, but all three were now in deep trouble.
The Story turned to his brother, “I was just making stuff up! He wasn't supposed to listen to me! You’re the one who showed him gunpowder, factories, cars and A-bombs – this is all your fault!”
“ME?! You’re the one who filled his head with 'God' (whoever that is), Manifest Destiny, Checkers the Dog, and those happy active people in the drug commercials that he's supposed to pay attention to, while I responsibly list all of the side effects. You did this!!”
“Well, you've always been the smart one, I’m open to ideas. What do you think we should do?!”
The Science had been waiting for this for a long time, and his face was positively gleeful. “Dear Brother, I’m so glad that you asked!” He had a PowerPoint ready to go, with some highly detailed charts. “Here you’ll see a graph of CO2 and ocean temperature over time," hw pointed to a steep line graph. "Here is when we first met in the jungle, and here is when Man discovered potassium nitrate. And here…is where these levels are now, projected to…”
The Story nodded off after a few minutes, and woke up with a start. He looked over at Man, expecting him to have fallen asleep during the presentation as well. But Man wasn’t asleep. His eyes were wide open, enrapt in the plastic screen that he was tapping and swiping in the palm of his hand.
The Story growled at Man loud enough to make him look up from his brand new iPhone 12. “What is wrong with you?! This is IMPORTANT!!!”
The Science chimed in, “Rising greenhouse gases, melting sea ice and permafrost, and oceans four degrees Celsius warmer by the end of the century…doesn’t that terrify you?!” Man held his phone at arm's length, pinched to adjust the zoom, and snapped a selfie for the 'Gram.
This time the Story knocked the phone out of his hand. “Look, you need to listen to the Science!! So many times you’ve been in trouble, and then made the world better just by listening to The Science!”
The Science, all smug condescension gone from his voice, took his brother aside, “he only ever wanted to listen to me, The Science, after he heard you, The Story. Even when I'm right I can't get him to listen, but you? He hangs on your every word. Without me, you're free to spread lies, superstition, conspiracies, fear and hate. But with me, you can inspire action, duty, hope, compassion and love. But it only works if you tell him my truth. OUR truth. THE TRUTH. And if together, we make him think. Otherwise he’s just an ape, with nuclear weapons.
"I am The Science, and he desperately needs to hear what I have to say. But you are The Story. And Man will only ever really get it when he hears The Story.”
The other lion thought for a moment, turned to Man, and that's where The Story began. “One morning, long ago, an ape woke up, and said ‘I think I’ll go for a walk in the jungle.’”