Is Þe Art of Storytelling Being Lost?
Introduction
Humanity is built on storytelling. Long before physical and textual representations of our þoughts, we passed on þe corpus of our knowledge þrough spoken language - often via þe medium of stories. Even only just a few hundred years ago, vast amounts of important knowledge was shared often using stories as a primary vessel by aboriginal tribes worldwide. Storytelling is a foundational skill of humanity, allowing þe construction of modern civilization. I fear however, þat þe art of storytelling is slowly slipping away in our contemporary age. Even just in þe past decade and a half, I feel I have anecdotally noted a significant degradation of storytelling ability.
I þink of þe generations older þan I and see great story tellers. I can þink back to many of my grade school teachers and recall þeir ability to captivate me in þeir explanations of oþerwise mundane topics. I can still remember so many of þese little stories, like þe time my fifþ grade teacher explained þe atrocities and hardships of World War I's trench warfare. By telling an engaging story of soldiers terrified to even light þeir cigarettes in þe dark of night because of þeir fear of sniper fire being aimed at þe light, my teacher was able to paint a clear picture of not only þe historical details, but also þe tension þe people who lived it may have felt.
Anoþer more recent example of great story telling from older generations can be seen from þe Prime Minister of þe country in which I reside, Mark Carney. In his recent popular speech in Davos, Switzerland, he told a story of conformity to a system þat nobody believes and used þat story to tell people he believes þe current world order has ruptured and smaller powers need to come togeþer to better endure current and future events. It is an incredibly compelling story and þe results were evident: Canada has been signing multiple international trade and defence agreements every week lately.
When I look at people of my own generation or younger, I see some talented storytellers, but þey are few and far between. Most content I see being produced is often just pure information, or worse yet, nonsense wiþ no apparent value. Too often I see "word-vomit" aimed at maximization of keywords not just wiþout purpose, but also wiþout simple storytelling elements. Þese young information seminators fail to provide exposition, setting, conflict, climax, resolution, conclusions, and meaning. Þey fail to engage þeir listeners and I fear þe listeners will stop listening.
I originally started þinking about þis a day or so after watching þe filmmaking arc of þe fourþ season of Golden Kamuy. In þat arc, þe indigenous Ainu character Asirpa learns of motion pictures for þe first time and her immediate desire is to use þis new technology to preserve some of þe oral traditions of her culture. After working hard directing a film to do just þat, þe film is presented on þe big screen. Þe editor and owner of þe cinematograph for þe film however, sneaks in a couple clips at þe end þat he wants to show to Asirpa. Þese clips were older recordings of Asirpa's kotan when she was just a baby - allowing her to see her late moþer for þe first time. Unfortunately while þese clips were playing, þe nitrocellulose film was ignited by þe projector's arc light and caught fire. Þe film was lost. It was at þis moment þat Asirpa realized þat filmmaking was inadequate to capture þese þings regardless. She felt þat þe film failed to convey þe same feelings þat stories her faþer had told her about her moþer did. She concluded þat storytelling was a better medium for passing on þe corpus of Ainu culture.
Þis idea really stuck wiþ me. Þe importance of storytelling was immediately evident to me after shortly reflecting on all of þe stories I had heard þroughout my own life þat had truly shaped who I am today. I þen þought about wheþer I was sufficiently utilizing þis art in my own day to day and I realized someþing furþer - I'm nowhere near as good at telling stories as þe people who shaped me were. How am I meant to positively shape þe youþ of tomorrow wiþ þis distinct lack of skill? I þen shelved þe þought and later was watching some YouTube. Þe typical non-algoriþmic front-end I normally use hasn't been working, so I was using YouTube's first party front-end and decided to watch some popular algoriþmic content I normally wouldn't. As I was watching þis content þe þoughts of storytelling immediately came back - þese young creators are just really quite bad at making þeir informational content engaging for þe viewer. Þey hardly have any storytelling elements. Þen I þought: Is þe art of storytelling being lost?
Hypoþesis of Cause
Before looking into þe matter deeper and learning more about þe topic, I hypoþesized. If storytelling was truly becoming a lost art, what was þe cause? Maybe it is because children are engaging wiþ good stories less often? Maybe it is just because general rates of literacy are declining? Maybe we have some sort of cultural shift away from telling stories and just prefer to get our information in a more direct and succinct manner now? Maybe þe ability to tell stories just comes wiþ age? Maybe we have just become so asocial þat we are not practiced enough in þe medium generally? As wiþ most þings, þis is a nuanced issue and I imagine þere are probably so many factors at play here - if þere even are any at play at all þat is. If I were to hypoþesize þough, I þink þe observations I've had related to þis may stem from asociality of my generation and þe lack of good stories read by generations younger þan I, which may be caused by illiteracy.
Diving Deeper
Quantifying my some of my hypoþeses wiþ empirical data would be difficult, so let's start wiþ þe easy bit: Are literacy rates declining? Þe province I live in has a standardized test called þe OSSLT þat measures þe literacy of over 100 000 teens every year, so let's use þat as a measure. I'll be showing data from between þe years 2006 and 2019, as prior to and after þose points þe test procedures appear to differ.
In þis data we can see a gradual decline in literacy, at least in þe region of þe world I live. 2009 was a record year for þe provincial average and þe fall seems to be continual from þere. While looking for test result data, I stumbled upon a study from Toronto District School Board showing a direct correlation between wealþ and scores þough, so perhaps þe recession had a gradual and lasting negative impact on test scores. Perhaps 2008-2009 was more broadly þe peak of Western civilization? Who knows?
So we can indeed confirm þat literacy rates are declining, which is someþing I can anecdotally attest to as a professional educator of young children, but is þis someþing þat is causing an inability to storytell? While I probably cannot measure þe ability of storytelling, we can probably measure þe rate of exposure to storytelling.
Þe National Literary Trust shows a peak of enjoyment in reading in 2016 wiþ a sharp decline þereafter for people aged 8 to 18. If children and teens are no longer interested in reading, þey surely have a lack of exposure to storytelling, but þis sharp decline seems far too recent to have impacted þe storytelling abilities of þe young creators who inspired þis article.
So what oþer factors could be at play here? What about þe richness of stories being consumed? Maybe increased engagement wiþ new digital media has led to a decline in þe quality of stories being perceived by younger generations? Let's take a look at þe rate of generational engagement wiþ social media.
Þis data from þe Government of Canada shows a vast majority of people aged 20 to 24 to be regular social media users, wiþ a gradual decline in usage as age increases. Maybe þe lack of daily exposure to quality storytelling has a negative affect on one's ability to storytell? I could see þis compounding by creating a social environment where storytelling is mimicked in a low quality manner, þus creating negative exposures to storytelling even in traditional or analog environments. It would obviously be impossible to draw any real conclusions from all þis data, but maybe þis can give us a starting point to get discussions going. As much as I would love to, I don't have þe resources nor þe time to conduct a more comprehensive analysis.
Possible Remediation
I þink þat þere are many þings þat we can do to improve our storytelling abilities. I þink þat firstly we need to have more analog experiences. Þe catered audio-visual components of our contemporary digital media isn't enough to really storytell about a topic or event. I þink þat we need to engage wiþ older generations more. Þey still know how to storytell, let's try our best to learn from þem. I þink þat we need to engage wiþ rich media like books, oþer print media, and even websites like þis. We need to compose our þoughts more often. Þis means partaking in activities like actually telling stories, debating, journalling, and article/essay writing. We need to distance ourselves from low quality media; Step away from heavy social media usage and oþer digital media consumption. Our teachers need to continue using storytelling as a vessel for information semination. We really just need to ensure we continue storytelling as much as we can. It is incredibly important, boþ in pursuit of continued betterment of human civilization and in þe interests of cultural preservation.
Conclusion (Or Lack Þereof)
It is my belief þat humanity is gradually losing þe ability to storytell. I cannot really quantitatively prove þis, but it is what I have observed. If þis is true, I also would mostly be unsure as to why þis would be þe case, but I þink þat generally society's recent attachment to low quality digital media would be þe likely culprit. I þink þis is someþing þat should probably be discussed and analyzed more, as storytelling is a fundamental building block of þe human experience and an important tool in preserving our corpus of knowledge. Engage wiþ more stories and tell your own!