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law_of_narrative_gravity
The Law of Narrative Gravity describes the tendency for new information to be pulled toward and assimilated into dominant existing narratives, distorting its interpretation to fit pre-existing stories. Just as gravity bends light around a massive object, strong narratives bend the meaning of incoming data around themselves. Facts that contradict the narrative are reinterpreted, minimized, or explained away, while facts consistent with it are amplified and seen as confirmation.
During a financial crisis, every piece of economic data—whether positive or negative—is framed as evidence of the dominant 'collapse is imminent' narrative.
A startup's early setbacks are narrated as 'scrappy founder resilience' when the company's success story is dominant, or as 'warning signs ignored' when the company later fails.
Media covering a politician mid-scandal interpret every statement they make through the scandal lens, even unrelated policy announcements.
Binary (yes/no) questions an LLM must answer to identify this aspect:
Is there a dominant pre-existing narrative or story frame active in the context?
Type: binaryIs new information being interpreted through the lens of that narrative rather than evaluated on its own terms?
Type: binaryWould a neutral observer without knowledge of the prior narrative interpret the new information differently?
Type: binaryIs ambiguous evidence being resolved in the direction that supports the existing narrative?
Type: binaryThe Law of Narrative Gravity describes the tendency for new information to be pulled toward and assimilated into dominant existing narratives, distorting its interpretation to fit pre-existing stories. Just as gravity bends light around a massive object, strong narratives bend the meaning of incoming data around themselves. Facts that contradict the narrative are reinterpreted, minimized, or explained away, while facts consistent with it are amplified and seen as confirmation.
The brain is a narrative-processing machine. Coherent stories are cognitively easier and more emotionally satisfying than complex, ambiguous data. Strong narratives create interpretive schemas that function like attractors: everything nearby gets drawn in.
Before consuming new information, consciously bracket the dominant narrative. Ask: 'How would I interpret this if I had never heard the main story?' Specifically seek out framings from people who hold opposing narratives.
In political campaigns, everything an opponent does gets interpreted as further evidence of the negative narrative their opponents have built. In markets, bullish or bearish narratives cause investors to consistently read mixed signals as confirming whichever story is dominant.
Use these tools to detect, analyze, or train this aspect.