Why Novels Matter

Posted2 months agoActive2 months ago

FinnLobsien

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theatlantic.comOtherstory

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LiteratureNovelsMedia

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Literature

Novels

Media

The article 'Why Novels Matter' discusses the importance of novels in understanding human experience and their relevance in today's media landscape, sparking a thoughtful discussion on HN about the role of literature.

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01Story posted
Oct 30, 2025 at 9:08 AM EDT
2 months ago
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02First comment
Oct 30, 2025 at 9:27 AM EDT
19m after posting
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Oct 30, 2025 at 9:27 AM EDT
2 months ago
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Discussion (1 comments)

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Marshferm

2 months ago

Novels and fiction are possibly maladaptive hangovers of folk science and folk psychology. Sure, they're entrancing, but if you read Richerson/Boyd, they're quite likely where we get stuck — a bottleneck where simplistic info rules over correlational. The sciences tell us this, and it's paradoxical that our explanations come from above by... storytellers.

Parul Seghal's piece in the New Yorker last year hints at this.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/07/10/seduced-by-sto...

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