Let’s not fact-check a good story

I had written a blog post, in part with some facts and in part with some assumptions. The overall story came out good. My cousin probed me if my assumptions were indeed correct. With a fair bit of reasoning that I pushed back, he opined “Let’s not fact-check a good story“. I thought this was a fascinating attitude. I then realized that if we would apply this attitude to a lot of good stories that we hear, read or watch, we would end up being more content and happier.

Nitpicking few assumptions from an otherwise brilliant movie can drain out the feeling of excitement. The movie industry has always been pushing down lot of unbelievable stories, be it the leading actor single handedly fighting the 20 odd villains OR a single person bringing a whole syndicate down. There are more recent thrillers and action movies that have great story line, interesting plot and ending, but somehow not all dots add up rightly. If we start fact checking such fantastic narratives and engage in fault finding, the entertainment quotient gets reduced completely. Sometimes it’s good to simply accept the narrative, for what it is, and let the mind have some fun.

My dad and my uncles used to narrate fascinating stories from their childhood, some extremely comical, and some rather scary. As a kid, we never fact checked their stories, and we thoroughly enjoyed every bit of the narration. As we mature and get more “smarter”, we slowly tend to notice some discrepancies, and try to question, and the whole thing doesn’t become enjoyable as much. Yes, it’s good to ask questions, good to check for logic, but for stories that are made to entertain and doesn’t harm anyone involved, it’s good to skip the fact-checking part in order to sit back & enjoy the story.

There are lots of guru’s and influencers who share their unique stories, about their struggles, their Eureka moments and rise to fame. It’s pretty common for folks to dive deep into their narratives and point on the aspects that don’t add up well. Again, this only makes the mind not receptive to new ideas. It continues to be in the non-acceptance mode; maybe the man didn’t live in such bad conditions that he portraits it to be, maybe the woman got massive help from some influential person, etc. If the overall idea or thoughts coming out of the person is something exciting for you, something that can help you make a better version of yourself, we should not engage in fact checking the story. Take it or move on.

Fact checking, is however crucial in certain cases, like in financial and health related activities. We don’t necessarily put in our money just because the founder told us a phenomenal story. We don’t start eating something or take some special medicines just because your relative or friend talked about this remarkable victory against a certain medical condition. There are definitely areas where the facts have to be verified before taking any action. However, in cases of entertainment, and in situations where it’s simply OK to buy-in to your friends or family member’s story, though lame excuse of sorts, its best to accept it and not fact-check the same, not to drag the matter insanely further. Move on!

And then there are stories that we tell ourselves; that something is beyond our imagination; that something is not meant to be our destiny. First of all, these stories are not good, at least with respect to what we could end up achieving otherwise. These self-depreciating, self-limiting stories are full of assumptions, and hence a fertile ground for fact checking process. Please go ahead and do some fact checking. But for those stories that entertain you, keep you happy, lively and motivated, or try to make you into a better version of yourself, do not fact check them. And thus, live happily ever after!