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# Lessons from Angus Fletcher
- URL: https://www.antoinebuteau.com/lessons-from-angus-fletcher/
- Published: 2025-11-19T23:17:20.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-25T20:24:05.000Z
- Description: Angus Fletcher is a professor of story science whose work merges neuroscience and literature to examine narrative, cognition, and well-being. His concept of storythinking explores how innate narrative intelligence helps people understand and navigate the world.
- Author: Antoine Buteau
- Tags: Profile, Communication, Philosophy & Intellectuals Profiles

Angus Fletcher is a professor of story science at Ohio State’s Project Narrative and co-director of the Fisher College of Business Leadership Initiative. Trained in neuroscience and literature, he studies how narrative shapes cognition, creativity, resilience, and leadership. He is the author of *Wonderworks* and the 2025 national bestseller *Primal Intelligence: You Are Smarter Than You Know*.

![Visual summary of operating lessons from Angus Fletcher.](https://www.antoinebuteau.com/content/images/2026/07/image-41-optimized.webp)

## On Storythinking and Narrative Intelligence

The core of Fletcher's work revolves around the concept of "storythinking," our innate ability to understand and navigate the world through narrative.

1. **On the essence of storythinking:** "Every time we think ahead, we are crafting a story." Every plan, vision, hypothesis and breakthrough starts with "what if?" — [Reference: Columbia University Press, Angus Fletcher, Storythinking (2023), book page](https://cup.columbia.edu/book/storythinking/9780231206938/?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
2. **Storythinking as a fundamental human trait:** He argues that "storythinking is fundamental to what makes us human." — [Reference: Columbia University Press, Angus Fletcher, Storythinking (2023), book page](https://cup.columbia.edu/book/storythinking/9780231206938/?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
3. **The antiquity of narrative:** "Storythinking hails from a time prior to authors, prior to humans, prior to language. It dates back hundreds of millions of years to the first creaky machinery of the animal brain." — [Reference: The Elements of Writing, "'What If?' Angus Fletcher on the Brain and Storythinking" (2023)](https://theelementsofwriting.com/fletcher/?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
4. **The forward-looking nature of stories:** "A plan is a sequence of actions. And a new plan is a new sequence of actions. It's a new story about the future." — [Reference: EconTalk, "Primal Intelligence (with Angus Fletcher)" (2025)](https://www.econtalk.org/primal-intelligence-with-angus-fletcher/?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
5. **The limitations of logic:** "Most of the time in life, you don't have enough information to use logic." — [Reference: EconTalk, "Primal Intelligence (with Angus Fletcher)" (2025)](https://www.econtalk.org/primal-intelligence-with-angus-fletcher/?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
6. **Narrative vs. AI:** "Artificial intelligence can perform symbolic logic, rational deduction, and mathematical calculation, but it is incapable of deliberating in narrative." — [Reference: Columbia University Press, Angus Fletcher, Storythinking (2023), book page](https://cup.columbia.edu/book/storythinking/9780231206938/?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
7. **On Making the future:** Make the future instead of merely predicting it: see a possibility others have missed, then move quickly to turn it into reality. — [*The Double Win Show: Our Uniquely Human Contribution*](https://doublewinshow.com/podcast/56-angus-fletcher-our-uniquely-human-contribution/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)

## From Wonderworks: The 25 Most Powerful Inventions in the History of Literature

Fletcher's book Wonderworks explores the specific emotional and cognitive tools that literature provides.

1. **On literature as technology:** "The definition of technology is anything we humans make to solve a problem. Since literature is something we make to solve problems — problems like boredom, grief and our need for meaning — it's a technology, too." — [Reference: Ohio State Arts and Sciences, "Literature heals, boosts creativity and courage, says Angus Fletcher in new book Wonderworks"](https://artsandsciences.osu.edu/news/literature-heals-boosts-creativity-and-courage-says-angus-fletcher-new-book-wonderworks?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
2. **On literature as a remedy:** Literature tackles "the psychological problems of living as ourselves": "It allows us to better regulate our feelings, alleviating grief, anger, heartbreak and even post-traumatic fear." — [Reference: Ohio State Arts and Sciences, "Literature heals, boosts creativity and courage, says Angus Fletcher in new book Wonderworks"](https://artsandsciences.osu.edu/news/literature-heals-boosts-creativity-and-courage-says-angus-fletcher-new-book-wonderworks?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
3. **On tragedy as therapy:** Greek tragedy was developed partly for military veterans: its catharsis puts you in the position of having survived the tragedy and reaching out to the character, which "builds self-efficacy in the brain." — [Reference: Ohio State, "Sparking creativity through reading"](https://www.osu.edu/impact/arts-and-creativity/fletcher-power-stories?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
4. **On wonder:** "Literature is very effective at generating a sense of wonder, which is the most basic and primordial spiritual experience." — [Reference: Nautilus, "Literature Should Be Taught Like Science" (2021)](https://nautil.us/literature-should-be-taught-like-science-238135?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
5. **On playing virtual scientist:** "Our brains are born scientists," but "what holds us back as scientists is our egos." Detective fiction lets us practice hypotheses in "a space where our ego doesn't exist." — [Reference: Nautilus, "Literature Should Be Taught Like Science" (2021)](https://nautil.us/literature-should-be-taught-like-science-238135?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
6. **On stories as the start of innovation:** "Every business plan, every new technology, every cultural or political movement gets started with a story about tomorrow." — [Reference: McKinsey Author Talks, "Angus Fletcher on the power of literature" (2021)](https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-on-books/author-talks-angus-fletcher-on-the-power-of-literature?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
7. **On changing perspective:** "When your brain enters a story, it jumps out of your perspective into a character's perspective… You shift out of your biases," which opens you up to being more imaginative and creative. — [Reference: Ohio State, "Sparking creativity through reading"](https://www.osu.edu/impact/arts-and-creativity/fletcher-power-stories?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
8. **On reading for the brain you want:** Don't read literature for its lessons—"what do poets know about business?"—but "to stimulate the parts of your brain that you want to grow in your business." — [Reference: McKinsey Author Talks, "Angus Fletcher on the power of literature" (2021)](https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-on-books/author-talks-angus-fletcher-on-the-power-of-literature?ref=antoinebuteau.com).

## On Personal Growth and Resilience

Fletcher's insights into narrative have direct applications for personal development and overcoming adversity.

1. **On Plot Twists and Healing:** For veterans with numbness-type PTSD, he points to a literary technique of "a plot-twist into positive emotions, of surprising us into joy and gratitude and wonder." — [Reference: The Ohio State University, "Sparking creativity through reading"](https://www.osu.edu/impact/arts-and-creativity/fletcher-power-stories?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
2. **On Moving from automation to growth:** Move from automation to growth: once the brain has automated an activity, continuing to optimize it produces diminishing pleasure; durable engagement comes from taking on new growth. — [*The Double Win Show: Our Uniquely Human Contribution*](https://doublewinshow.com/podcast/56-angus-fletcher-our-uniquely-human-contribution/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
3. **On Questions that preserve curiosity:** In difficult conversations, "ask the other person who, what, when, where, how, but never why. Because the moment you ask 'Why?', you serve a judgment, and the conversation is over." — [Reference: The Double Win Show, "Angus Fletcher: Our Uniquely Human Contribution" (2026)](https://doublewinshow.com/podcast/56-angus-fletcher-our-uniquely-human-contribution/?ref=antoinebuteau.com).

## On Primal Intelligence and the Human Mind

Fletcher champions a broader understanding of intelligence that goes beyond the computational.

1. **The brain is not a computer:** "In the modern world, we've almost entirely defined intelligence as some form of logic." Logic is data-driven decision-making, which requires having all the facts. — [Reference: EconTalk, "Primal Intelligence (with Angus Fletcher)" (2025)](https://www.econtalk.org/primal-intelligence-with-angus-fletcher/?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
2. **The components of primal intelligence:** Primal intelligence runs on four low-information powers: intuition, which spots exceptions; imagination, which turns them into new plans; and common sense and emotion, which help choose among those plans. — [Reference: EconTalk, "Primal Intelligence (with Angus Fletcher)" (2025)](https://www.econtalk.org/primal-intelligence-with-angus-fletcher/?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
3. **The value of primal intelligence in a changing world:** The brain evolved in constantly changing environments where information was fragile, so it "had to develop intelligence that was able to operate in low-information environments." — [Reference: EconTalk, "Primal Intelligence (with Angus Fletcher)" (2025)](https://www.econtalk.org/primal-intelligence-with-angus-fletcher/?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
4. **The failure of the education system:** Schools do the opposite of training planners: they give students "questions that the teachers already know the answer to," so students learn that there is an answer and the system has it. — [Reference: EconTalk, "Primal Intelligence (with Angus Fletcher)" (2025)](https://www.econtalk.org/primal-intelligence-with-angus-fletcher/?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
5. **Human intelligence and planning:** "Human intelligence is characterized by the ability to make plans. So, if you can make a plan, and if you can make a new plan, you can handle new situations." — [Reference: EconTalk, "Primal Intelligence (with Angus Fletcher)" (2025)](https://www.econtalk.org/primal-intelligence-with-angus-fletcher/?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
6. **The crisis of planning in young people:** "What we're seeing today is a crisis, particularly among young people, an inability to make new plans. When they don't know what to do, they turn to somebody else for advice." — [Reference: EconTalk, "Primal Intelligence (with Angus Fletcher)" (2025)](https://www.econtalk.org/primal-intelligence-with-angus-fletcher/?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
7. **The obsolescence of old plans:** "Your parents don't understand how to succeed today. Your parents succeeded yesterday. They don't have a plan that's going to work today." — [Reference: EconTalk, "Primal Intelligence (with Angus Fletcher)" (2025)](https://www.econtalk.org/primal-intelligence-with-angus-fletcher/?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
8. **On Intuition as exception detection:** Treat intuition as exception detection, not pattern matching: notice anomalies and singularities that everyone relying on established patterns will miss. — [*The Double Win Show: Our Uniquely Human Contribution*](https://doublewinshow.com/podcast/56-angus-fletcher-our-uniquely-human-contribution/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
9. **On Right-answer cultures:** Beware right-answer cultures: the more people believe the system already has the answer, the less likely they are to invent a new one. — [*The Double Win Show: Our Uniquely Human Contribution*](https://doublewinshow.com/podcast/56-angus-fletcher-our-uniquely-human-contribution/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
10. **On why we plan:** Following Eisenhower: "the purpose of planning is to develop the planner, not to develop the plan"—to get better at inventing new courses of action on the fly. — [*Reference: EconTalk, "Primal Intelligence (with Angus Fletcher)" (2025)*](https://www.econtalk.org/primal-intelligence-with-angus-fletcher/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
11. **On narrative's real job:** "Narrative did not evolve in the human brain for its truth function or its probability function. Narrative evolved in the human brain for its possibility function, for its ability to imagine new things that haven't occurred yet." — [*Reference: EconTalk, "Primal Intelligence (with Angus Fletcher)" (2025)*](https://www.econtalk.org/primal-intelligence-with-angus-fletcher/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
12. **On unleashing the rookie:** Elite Special Operations pilots improve by handing the controls to a rookie and letting mistakes chain together—a little further each time—so the uncertainty forces the expert past the limits of their expertise. — [*Reference: EconTalk, "Primal Intelligence (with Angus Fletcher)" (2025)*](https://www.econtalk.org/primal-intelligence-with-angus-fletcher/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)
13. **On now plus one:** Anxiety evolved to detect unknown unknowns; rather than suppress it, operators tune it by focusing on "the now plus one"—the next task they can control—so it stays productive instead of tipping into panic. — [*Reference: EconTalk, "Primal Intelligence (with Angus Fletcher)" (2025)*](https://www.econtalk.org/primal-intelligence-with-angus-fletcher/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)