Storytellers are border walkers. The explorers of old dwelled by the boundaries of the village, looking out--exploring beyond the known. The early scouts brought back tales of what lay beyond. They were the original storytellers.
Scientists are border walkers too, dwelling by the boundaries of the known--exploring beyond. Scientists report in journals the tales of what lies beyond.
Storytelling sharpens the ultimate survival skill: imagination. Wooing a date, anticipating your enemy’s attack or gymnasts making the jump all require fast-footed imagining. We reached the moon imagining it first.
Storytelling and listening exercise your prime survival skill. Dreaming up stuff is part of why we do so well as a species, learning and growing as we conceive new possibilities. It links us as humans. Stories unlock the imagination—opening the gate to the Kingdom of Wonder, as a listener, teller or a writer.
As a scientist-storyteller I enjoy unexpected twists both in stories and in scientific research. And I enjoy bringing back these goodies to the village and tell the story.
Tales from the Blender strings together a series of new stories, old stories with new interpretations or different twists. The stories are interwoven via personal accounts as a scientist, including an audience's favorite--"the infinity mirror." My favorite stories make the impossible probable (fantasy) or the improbable possible (science) and I love walking, or cycling, the shadowlands between these two.