Narrative fallacy

The narrative fallacy addresses our limited ability to look at sequences of facts without weaving an explanation into them, or, equivalently, forcing a logical link, an arrow of relationship upon them. Explanations bind facts together. They make them all the more easily remembered; they help them make more sense. Where this propensity can go wrong is when it increases our impression of understanding.

—Nassim Nicholas Taleb, The Black Swan

Blog posts

• Tell your Anti-Story by Robin Hanson
• The Bad Guy Bias by Robin Hanson
• Missing the Trees for the Forest by Yvain
• Why You're Stuck in a Narrative by hegemonicon
• Biases of Fiction by Robin Hanson

External Links

• Tyler Cowen on Stories (transcript)
• Systems and Stories by Katja Grace
• Living in the Epilogue: Social Policy as Palliative Care by Sister Y

See also

• Privileging the hypothesis, Positive bias
• Mind-killer
• Near/far thinking
• Hindsight bias
• Fake simplicity
• Black swan