New Scientist
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Humans have been telling stories for longer than they’ve had reliable ways to separate fact from fiction.
Making it up
Why do humans so readily adopt fiction into our lives, and feel emotion about characters as though they were someone close to us in real life? (continued)
John Astell
Holden, Massachusetts, US
The question presumes humans can easily tell the difference between fact and fiction. Human evolution and archaeology indicate that for most of humanity’s existence, information was passed down by the spoken word, probably often to children. Even factual events and people would be subject to distortion and simplification, while completely made-up stories could have details that seemed factual and believable.
For most of humanity’s existence, information was passed down by the spoken word, probably often to children
Take the people and events mentioned in the Iliad. Sufficient details in the poem suggest it was partly based on some Bronze Age event. The poem’s “Catalogue of Ships” indicates a retained knowledge of the Bronze Age geography of Greece that differed from classical Greek geography at the time the poem was written down (circa 7th century BC). There is no written evidence that any notable people in the Iliad actually existed, but the name Achilles is a Bronze Age Greek name recorded in two different Mycenaean Linear B tablets, although not that of the hero Achilles.
So, if you are told stories of the Greek gods, the Trojan war, the Peloponnesian war (a recorded historical fact) or the sayings of Socrates, how could you tell fact from fiction? You simply have to believe some things on faith. If you care about what happened to Socrates, you will undoubtedly care about what happened to Achilles, who may or may not have existed, and Prometheus, who is a mythological character.
Credits: TCA, LLC.