Fiction Matters

Story is important because we can identify with it in a way that we can't with real life. Let's take Lost and CSI for an example.

CSI spends every week (now I have never watched an entire episode of CSI so I may be speaking incorrectly) talking about some bizarre murder and then it gets figured out at the end. Now, seriously, how many of us can identify with a story like that? Not many of us have had loved ones or co-workers die in bizarre and unnatural ways. But take Sawyer from Lost- he watched his mother and father die and he carries around a letter with him because he cannot let go of the pain and rage he feels for the man who caused that death. What is important in his story is not that his parents died but that he has been carrying that grief (literally in the form of that note), around with him for 20 years.

Now I can look at CSI and the result will probably be for me to continue to avoid dressing like a skanky ho and to stay away from the tracks. But if I look at Sawyer's story, my response will be something like, "Wow, look at how messed up he is and how much he has missed out on because he has never let go of his desire for revenge. I wonder if I am carrying around anything like that that is ruining my life?" As humans we experience so much happiness and pain and grief and suffering and disappointment, and it is only natural to compare what you have experienced against another person. Fiction, if you enjoy reading it, stays with you longer than a real story because it's applications are so broad. You don't have to compare yourself with another real person when you read fiction. It objectively helps you process through your character and your experiences.