@philosophyminis: In his recent book The Crisis of Narration, Byung-Chul Han argues that the great neurosis of our time is that we are trying to sell our lives to others. Han argues that we have always been storytelling creatures. We present accounts of our lives that include the deep structures of who we are. Yes, we want to be accepted, but by and large, we would say, 'This is who I am. Accept it, or do not.' But in recent years, Han argues that we have moved from storytelling to 'storyselling'. We say we believe things or do certain things, knowing full well that people in the room will buy it. They'll say, 'Good job, well done. Right on, man.' And we know that this is unhappy. This constructed mask, or faux authenticity, suffocates us. It's painful to be around people that we call friends while knowing that we are selling a version of ourselves we don't fully identify with. We have commodified ourselves. But 'storyselling' can also be comically absurd. An entire room of people might be fabricating their narratives. And so, while people are nodding along to the groupthink, they are thinking it is nonsense. No one really likes that band. No one actually believes that. And yet, we are locked into the game. Han's answer is to treat listening as a kind of healing act. If you stop buying, people will stop selling. Treat a conversation not as a marketplace, but as a space in which people can be who they want to be, and tell the story of their actual life.

Jonny Thomson

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Region: GB

Thursday 15 January 2026 16:16:21 GMT