Why Stories Matter: How Narrative Helps Us Make Sense of Life

We live in stories. Even when we are not speaking them aloud, we are organizing our memories, decisions, and relationships through narrative. Researchers across philosophy, psychology, literature, and the social sciences are increasingly pointing to this idea: storytelling is not just something we do. It is part of how we know, relate, and become.

This insight is at the heart of a special issue of the journal Partial Answers, titled Narrative Knowing, Living, Telling (Hyvärinen, Mikkonen, & Mildorf, 2008), which brings together a range of scholarship on how stories shape human experience. In their introductory article, the editors suggest that narrative is more than a form of communication—it is also a way our minds work.

Narrative, Aging, and the Meaning of Life

Since early childhood, we learn to understand others by listening to stories. Philosopher Daniel Hutto calls this the Narrative Practice Hypothesis. He suggests that our ability to guess what others are thinking or feeling does not come from formal reasoning. Instead, it grows out of hearing everyday stories that explain why someone acted the way they did.

For example:

• “She yelled because she was scared.”

• “He walked away to cool down.”

• “They didn’t answer because they felt embarrassed.”

This becomes especially powerful as we age. Life review—the process of reflecting on our past—relies on narrative tools. We revisit memories not just to remember, but to understand. We shape them into stories that help us integrate identity, reconcile contradictions, and find coherence. In this way, storytelling becomes a form of emotional and existential sense-making.

Stories give us context. And context helps us understand behavior.

Stories and Identity: The Role of Reflection

There is a long-standing idea that we are the stories we tell about ourselves. But the scholars in this work remind us to be careful. Life itself is messy. It does not unfold in neat chapters with beginnings, middles, and endings. The stories we tell about life are shaped afterward. So, we do not live our lives as stories, but we use narrative to make meaning out of what has happened.

• The story is not the life.

• The story is one way of interpreting the life.

We “Read Minds” Through Narrative

Many of us constantly try to understand what others think or intend. When we listen to someone speak, or read a novel, or watch a film, our minds fill in layers of emotion and motivation. Scholars call this folk psychology: the everyday ability to imagine the inner world of another person.

This is also why reading fiction can deepen empathy. When we follow a character’s emotional experience, we practice imagining the lives of others.

When Narrative Tools Are Limited

The work also highlights what happens when someone struggles to interpret social cues, such as in autism. In these cases, storytelling can still be learned, but it may feel more like following rules than intuitive knowing. This reminds us that narrative understanding is not automatic for everyone. It is a skill built over time, experience, and relationships.

Narrative as an Everyday Human Tool

Across all these perspectives, one idea stands out: Narrative is a resource we use to make sense of the world and each other.

We use it to:

• Understand motivations

• Remember our lives

• Connect with others

• Question and rethink our beliefs

• Imagine new possibilities

As we age, these functions become even more vital. Life review is not just reminiscing—it’s meaning-making. Through storytelling, we reframe painful memories, celebrate growth, and pass down wisdom. We are not simply telling stories. We are living through them.

Reference

Hyvärinen, M., Mikkonen, K., & Mildorf, J. (Eds.). (2007). Introduction: Narrative Knowing, Living, Telling. In Narrative Knowing, Living, Telling (Special Issue). University of Tampere, University of Helsinki, University of Paderborn.