Power of Story Version #2

What is the central argument of Harold R. Johnson’s chapter “The Power of Story”?

Human beings use stories to understand reality and organize society. Many things that appear natural, absolute, or necessary—including rights, science, religion, nations, money, corporations, and justice—are stories humans have created. These stories shape how we understand ourselves and the world, and because they are human-created, they can change.

What historical period does Johnson say we have entered?

The information age.

What invention does Johnson identify as marking the transition from the industrial era to the information age?

The invention of the transistor in 1947.

How did developments in transistor technology change computing?

They allowed computers to become much smaller, eventually enabling cell phones to have more computing power than the computer NASA used to put the first men on the moon.

What examples does Johnson use to illustrate the rapid pace of technological change?

The Wright brothers first flew in 1903, the transistor was invented in 1947, and humans landed on the moon in 1969—only 66 years after the first flight.

Why does Johnson argue that we need a new story?

We are living in a new historical age, and older stories cannot fully explain who we are, what we have learned, what our purpose is, or what we should be doing now.

What qualities should the new story Johnson calls for have?

It should explain who we are at this point in history, incorporate new knowledge, be more complete, and avoid leaving people out.

How does Johnson connect religion to the agrarian revolution?

He says the story of religion facilitated the agrarian revolution.

What helped bring about the Industrial Revolution, according to Johnson?

The invention of the steam engine, combined with wealth taken from the Americas.

Why did the Industrial Revolution require new stories?

The massive social upheaval created by industrialization required stories that could explain and support the new social and economic order.

What two major stories emerged to support the Industrial Revolution?

Capitalism and socialism.

Why does Johnson consider capitalism and socialism both industrial stories despite their apparent opposition?

Both encourage people to leave agricultural work and move to cities to work in factories, and both promise to improve workers’ lives.

What does the capitalist story promise workers?

It promises that through hard work and luck, a worker can climb a ladder of success and potentially become a wealthy tycoon.

What does the socialist story promise workers?

It promises factory employment, a decent salary, benefits, a pension, and greater freedom for workers.

What common problem does Johnson identify in capitalism and socialism?

Both depend on the exploitation of the Earth’s resources.

What point does Johnson make through his examples of a capitalist and a socialist cutting down the last tree?

A capitalist may cut down the last tree for profit, while a socialist may do so as long as the worker belongs to a trade union. Johnson uses this contrast to emphasize that both systems can prioritize their own economic or ideological goals over environmental preservation.

How do stories shape human understanding?

They help construct our conscious world, our understanding of ourselves, and our understanding of our place in the world.

What does Johnson mean when he says that some stories are powerful enough that people will kill to protect their interpretations of them?

People can become so attached to their beliefs and interpretations that they treat them as absolute truths and use violence to defend them.

According to Johnson, where do rights originate?

Rights are stories humans created; they do not exist independently in nature.

What examples of claimed rights does Johnson mention?

The claimed right not to wear a mask during a pandemic, the claimed right to say horrible things about people on social media, and the claimed right to a gun.

What does Johnson say when people claim that rights come from God?

He rejects the claim that rights come from God and argues that rights are human-created stories.

According to Johnson, what is the strongest claim a person can make to establish that a right exists?

That the right exists in legislation.

How does Johnson describe the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms?

He calls it a “beautiful story” and says it is the best we can do right now.

Why does Johnson call the Charter a story despite recognizing its value?

Because the Charter is a human-created framework for understanding and organizing rights, rather than something that exists independently of human beings.

Does Johnson dismiss the Charter as useless because it is a story?

No. He recognizes that the Charter is valuable and says it is the best we can do right now. His criticism concerns how people understand rights and treat their interpretations.

What useful function can rights stories serve in society, according to Johnson?

They can help organize society and balance competing interests.

When do rights stories become problematic in Johnson’s analysis?

When people believe that rights are fundamental truths existing separately from humans and that their interpretations must be defended through violence.

What is the key distinction Johnson makes between using rights and treating rights as absolute?

Rights can be useful human-created tools for organizing society, but treating them as independent, unquestionable truths can lead to rigid thinking, conflict, and violence.

What is the most important overall lesson of Johnson’s analysis of the Charter?

The Charter is valuable but is still a human-created story. Its value does not require treating rights as timeless, independent truths or defending particular interpretations violently.

How should Johnson’s analysis of the Charter be understood beyond the statement that rights are stories?

He is questioning the tendency to treat human-created rights as if they exist independently of people. He recognizes the Charter’s practical value while warning that rigid attachment to rights interpretations can create conflict and violence.

What is a possible exam application of Johnson’s Charter argument?

If people claim that their interpretation of a right is absolute and must be defended at any cost, Johnson’s analysis would question that assumption by emphasizing that rights are human-created stories that can help organize society but can also become sources of conflict.

How does Johnson define the concept of evil?

He argues that evil is a human-created story rather than something that exists independently in nature.

What does Johnson say about the separation of good and evil in the Nehithaw understanding he describes?

In the original Nehithaw way of understanding, everything was both good and bad at the same time; good and evil were not treated as completely separate opposites.

What is a dichotomy in Johnson’s discussion of good and evil?

It is the division of something into two opposing categories, such as separating good and evil and treating them as opposites.

Why does Johnson criticize dividing the world into good and evil?

He argues that this division serves no useful purpose and creates division and conflict by giving people or groups something to label as evil and fight against.

How can the concept of evil contribute to war or violence?

People can label another person or group as evil and then use that label to justify fighting or going to war against them.

What examples does Johnson use to demonstrate that actions can have both beneficial and harmful consequences?

The Aswan Dam helped farmers irrigate land but damaged the sardine fishery; the tar sands provide employment and high wages but, according to Johnson’s account, harm Indigenous people living downstream.

What happened to the sardine fishery after the Aswan Dam reduced nutrients flowing into the Mediterranean Sea?

Johnson states that the fishery fell from 18,000 tons in 1960 to 460 tons in 1968.

What does the Aswan Dam example demonstrate about judging something as good or evil?

The same project can benefit one group while harming another. Whether it is considered good or bad depends on whose experiences and interests are considered.

How does Johnson illustrate the conflicting consequences of the Canadian tar sands?

Workers benefit from employment and high wages, while Indigenous people living downstream experience environmental harms and, as Johnson describes, higher rates of cancer.

What does Johnson say about the people he encountered during two decades working in the criminal justice system?

He says he never encountered anyone he would classify as evil, although he encountered people who were so unhealthy that they posed a danger to themselves and others.

What is Johnson’s broader argument about the relationship between good, evil, and human judgment?

Human beings create categories and stories to interpret actions, but these categories can oversimplify complex situations and intensify conflict.

How does Johnson characterize science in relation to stories?

Science is a story-generating machine: it provides the best available explanations of ourselves, our planet, and our place in the universe at a given time.

Does Johnson argue that science is invalid because scientific explanations change?

No. He says the fact that scientific explanations change does not diminish science’s validity. Current science can still provide the best available basis for decisions.

What does Johnson mean when he says scientific knowledge is not incontrovertible truth?

Scientific explanations represent the best available understanding at a particular time, but future discoveries may change or replace them.

How does Johnson describe the relationship between scientific stories and future discoveries?

Scientific stories are provisional. New ideas and evidence may replace current explanations, meaning the best explanation today may not remain the best explanation in the future.

How does Johnson describe the change in the scientific story of the universe?

The original Christian story placed humans at the centre of the universe; Copernicus described Earth orbiting the sun; Newton incorporated gravity; Einstein modified the account of gravity through relativity; and later developments in quantum physics and particle physics further changed scientific explanations.

What role does Copernicus play in Johnson’s example of changing scientific stories?

Copernicus changed the earlier story that placed humans at the centre of the universe by explaining that Earth orbits the sun.

How did Newton change the scientific story described by Johnson?

Newton developed the account of planetary motion by incorporating gravity.

How did Einstein change the scientific story of gravity described by Johnson?

He modified the explanation of gravity through the theory of relativity.

What point does Johnson make by mentioning quantum physics and the Higgs boson?

Scientific accounts continue to develop, illustrating his argument that the stories science tells are revised as knowledge changes.

What is the distinction between the provisional nature of science and the usefulness of science?

Scientific knowledge may change, but the best available scientific explanation can still be relied on for present decisions, provided we recognize its limits.

How does Johnson’s example of antique vehicles illustrate the idea of the best available story?

Older vehicles used distributor points that needed cleaning and replacement. Modern vehicles moved to electronic ignition, and electric vehicles represent further change. What is best available at one time may later be replaced by something better.

What does Johnson’s vehicle example suggest about technological progress?

Technology evolves, and a solution considered the best available in one period may become outdated as new technologies emerge.

What does Johnson mean when he calls science textbooks collections of stories?

They organize explanations of the world into accounts of how things work, and those accounts represent the scientific understanding available at the time.

How does Johnson describe the universe in relation to stories?

He explores the possibility that the universe itself, including matter and physical reality, may be understood through stories and the ways humans conceptualize it.

What are quanta, as described in Johnson’s discussion?

Discrete units of energy that he identifies as foundational building blocks of matter.

What is superposition in Johnson’s account of subatomic particles?

He describes subatomic particles as existing in a superposition of possible states until observed.

What is the observer effect as Johnson describes it?

He describes the idea that observation causes a particle to collapse from a range of possible states to a single point or outcome.

How does Johnson extend the observer effect into a philosophical argument about everyday reality?

He speculates that the universe may exist as part of our story because we are aware of it, and that collective consciousness may contribute to the reality we experience.

What objection does Johnson mention to the idea that the universe exists because it is observed?

Albert Einstein questioned the idea by asking whether the moon would cease to exist when he was not looking at it.

What is important to remember when studying Johnson’s discussion of the observer effect?

It is Johnson’s philosophical exploration of reality and story. His speculation about consciousness creating the universe should not automatically be treated as an established scientific conclusion.

What does Johnson include when he refers to the universe?

Not only distant galaxies and expanding space, but also Earth, himself, the reader, and every living thing on Earth.

How does Johnson compare science and God?

He argues that science is a story and that God, too, can be understood as a story.

How does Johnson explain the historical role of organized religion?

He says organized religion has been used to hold societies together for at least 10,000 years.

How does Johnson interpret the Old Testament conception of God?

He suggests that the God of the Old Testament reflects the concerns of agricultural societies, including attempts to explain drought and pestilence.

What biblical passage does Johnson use to discuss God as story?

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

How does Johnson interpret the statement “In the beginning was the Word”?

He interprets it as an acknowledgment that God is connected to words and stories, which are powerful and can generate the reality humans experience.

Why does Johnson argue that understanding God as story does not diminish God?

Because words and stories are powerful. Understanding God as story moves the concept beyond a purely physical, absolute image and toward infinite possibility.

How does Johnson contrast the ideas “God is a rock” and “God is the story that made rocks possible”?

The first describes God as a physical object, whereas the second presents God as a story associated with the possibility and meaning of existence.

How does Johnson contrast a narrow biblical image of God with his own understanding?

He contrasts the image of an old man with a beard sitting on a golden throne and controlling events with an understanding of God as spirit and infinite possibility.

Why does Johnson believe there will always be unknowns?

Science has only existed for a relatively short period in human history, and the universe is vastly old and potentially infinite. Human knowledge can therefore never encompass everything.

What does Johnson mean by the “Great Mystery”?

The unknown and the unknowable—the aspects of existence that lie beyond what humans can fully understand.

Does Johnson identify himself as an atheist?

No. He explicitly says he is not an atheist and accepts that powerful forces may exist beyond human comprehension.

What does Johnson reject about conventional religious belief?

He rejects being bound by a narrow biblical conception of God or by a single story about God.

Why does Johnson provide examples such as God, science, and the universe before discussing other concepts?

He wants readers to recognize that even things they may consider natural, normal, necessary, or absolute can be understood as stories without necessarily diminishing their value.

What attitude does Johnson encourage readers to take toward the examples he provides?

He encourages readers to take what they can use in a good way and leave what they cannot use in a good way.

How does Johnson describe DNA?

He describes DNA as an alphabet for writing life, using four letters: A, T, G, and C.

Which scientists does Johnson name in connection with the discovery of the DNA double helix?

Francis Crick, James Watson, and Maurice Wilkins.

What does Johnson say about the significance of understanding DNA?

Reading the story encoded in DNA can help humans understand life and how living things are related.

How have humans begun to rewrite the story of life using DNA?

Through genetic modifications of plants and animals.

What relationship between living things does Johnson emphasize through DNA?

All humans are related to one another, and humans are also related to other life forms on the planet.

What DNA comparisons does Johnson give to illustrate relatedness among living things?

He states that human DNA is almost 99% identical to chimpanzee DNA, and gives comparisons of 80% with dogs, 60% with bananas, 50% with cabbage, and 16% with lettuce.

What central lesson does Johnson draw from DNA’s account of life?

DNA provides a story of biological relatedness among living things and is an important story humans should pay attention to.

How does Johnson connect Indigenous spirituality with the scientific story of DNA?

He says Indigenous peoples have long understood that humans are related to everything around them, even without the scientific knowledge of the double helix.

What does “kakithaw nawakomakanak” mean?

“All my relations.”

What does Johnson remember when he says “kakithaw nawakomakanak”?

He remembers his relationship to the being he is praying to and to everything around him.

Which groups of living things does Johnson identify when describing “all my relations”?

The Standing Nations of trees, the Four-Legged Nations, the Flying Nations of birds, the Swimming Nations of fish, and the Crawling Nations of insects.

What ethical implication does Johnson draw from the idea that all living things are related?

He remembers that he is not more important than any other life form in nature.

How does Johnson describe mathematics?

Mathematics is a story. Numbers are useful concepts for describing relationships rather than things that exist independently in the way people often imagine.

How does Johnson explain equations as stories?

He describes equations as sentences: numbers function like nouns, while plus and equals signs function like verbs. Equations tell stories about processes and relationships.

What example does Johnson use to illustrate the idea that equations are stories?

He uses 1 + 1 = 2 to explain how numbers and mathematical symbols can function like the parts of a sentence.

What does E = mc² express in Johnson’s discussion?

It is a mathematical story describing the relationship between energy, mass, and the speed of light.

Why does Johnson describe E = mc² as a story that has become a legend?

He says the explanation has remained undisputed despite advances in quantum and other physics, so its longevity has made it legendary.

How does Johnson connect DNA, mathematics, and music?

He describes DNA and mathematics as languages for telling stories and says music is another language that communicates stories.

How can music tell stories without words?

Melody, rhythm, and sound can communicate beauty, pleasure, rage, sadness, joy, and grief without lyrics.

What musical alphabets does Johnson mention?

The syllables do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti and the letters A, B, C, D, E, F, and G.

What does Johnson say skilled musical communicators can do?

They can transmit ideas and concepts through sound, including to listeners who may not be skilled musicians themselves.

How does Johnson explain the importance of storytelling in visual art?

Good visual art communicates a story that evokes emotion and meaning beyond the technical skill used to create the work.

What examples of visual art does Johnson use?

Edvard Munch’s The Scream and Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.