Before we ever choose who we want to become, we inherit stories.
Stories about success.
Stories about failure.
Stories about who belongs.
Stories about who deserves power.
Stories about what is possible.
Most of these are handed to us so early that we mistake them for reality itself.
The same is true for families, organizations, cultures, and even nations. Every system is built on a collection of stories that explain the world. Over time, those stories become assumptions. Assumptions become habits. Habits become institutions.
Eventually, people stop asking whether the story is true because it becomes the way things are.
That question guides me through almost everything I write.
In my science fiction, entire civilizations misunderstand one another because they inherit stories instead of seeking understanding.
In history, I am drawn to people who quietly challenged the stories society told about them.
In political psychology, I studied how nations continue responding to one another through images formed decades earlier.
In We Are Not Broken, I explore the stories we tell ourselves and how those stories shape our emotions, choices, and relationships.
Different genres.
The same question.
What if the story is not the truth?
This does not mean every inherited story is wrong. Many deserve to be preserved. Others invite examination with honesty and curiosity.
The challenge is learning the difference.
Perhaps wisdom is not about collecting better answers.