00:00so why is it that i can read some books
00:02only once yet still remember almost
00:04everything about it like this book or
00:07these books or these even though i read
00:10them only once if you ask me to name any
00:12of the characters or the key terms or
00:14the definitions i can recite them all
00:16effortlessly i could probably tell you
00:18the entire story from beginning to end
00:19straight from memory and meanwhile i've
00:21read this book like three times already
00:23and i've made flash cards i've used
00:25space repetition and i still have
00:27trouble remembering some of the terms
00:28and definitions why is that the simple
00:30answer is that there's a story to it but
00:32it's much more complicated than that
00:34when i was researching this topic i was
00:36amazed because stories can actually
00:38change our brains down to a chemical
00:41level and this actually affects our
00:43ability to learn and retain information
00:45so what i wanted to do in this video is
00:47going to break down the neuroscience of
00:48storytelling and then show you how you
00:51can use that to learn faster and with
00:53less effort so let's back up for a
00:55second so you can see why this matters
00:57in the big picture of learning if you
00:59look back at the mike and maddie map
01:01structuring is a must when you're trying
01:03to understand information because sure
01:05active recall and space repetition are
01:07powerful and all but it's not the full
01:09picture if you really understand the
01:10information the first time you won't
01:12have to review it again as many times
01:14later so stories are amazing for
01:16learning for two big reasons
01:19they're memorable and they can motivate
01:21you to want to learn more or just
01:23motivate you to take action and there's
01:25a lot of science to it so what we're
01:26going to do is matty and i are going to
01:28break down each section and give you
01:29reasons as to why this works so well so
01:32a lot of this info comes from kendall
01:34haven who is basically the world's
01:36leading story scientist like he's
01:38published dozens of books on this topic
01:40he found in his research that our brains
01:42have been evolutionarily hardwired to
01:44think to understand to make sense and to
01:47remember in specific story terms and
01:50elements there's actually a circuit in
01:51our brains called the neural story net
01:54that naturally likes to process what we
01:56learn in story form and yes this network
01:59literally has the word story in its name
02:02and it's developed from hundreds of
02:04thousands of years of human evolution
02:06like if you think back to the earliest
02:07cavemen they didn't write books they
02:10passed down knowledge with stories with
02:12myths legends folk tales all word of
02:15mouth so based on the science stories
02:17are memorable because they depict change
02:20we are drawn to change the entire
02:23universe is in a constant state of
02:24change a constant state of entropy so we
02:28naturally seek out and remember change
02:30in stories there's usually a hero who
02:33goes on a journey and in the process
02:35will change or undergo some kind of
02:37transformation but in terms of learning
02:39our brains remember patterns of change
02:41so for example in microbio we are given
02:44hundreds of names of bacteria viruses
02:46and antibiotics to just memorize if i
02:49just go at it and try to make flash
02:51cards and rote memorize them it take
02:53forever i'd have to review it so many
02:55times but what our professor did was he
02:57told us stories and kind of gave us a
02:58glimpse of the history behind the
03:00changes in the field of microbiome so
03:02for example he told us about how the
03:04first bacteria were discovered and how
03:06we as humans invented this antibiotic to
03:08treat it and over time the bacteria grew
03:10stronger and evolved to become more
03:12resistant to the antibiotic so we had to
03:15create a stronger antibiotic then over
03:17time that bacteria evolved into
03:19different strains and so we had to
03:21invent yet another antibiotic and then
03:24there was a race between scientists in
03:25america and europe to create better and
03:27better antibiotics and so this
03:29progression of events this cause and
03:32effect this constantly changing
03:34environment made microbiology so
03:36fascinating and it made it really easy
03:38to learn all the names of all these
03:40bacteria through this kind of structure
03:43it sticks in our brain the first time we
03:45learn it because our brain naturally
03:46wants to connect the dots and it's
03:48always trying to make sense of things so
03:50right off the bat when you have good
03:51structure for your learning you don't
03:53have to revise it that many times
03:56so the other reason why stories are
03:57memorable is because of visual learning
04:00our brains have naturally evolved to
04:02remember better through patterns and
04:03visuals rather than words like if you
04:06think about it human beings only
04:08invented writing like 5 000 years ago
04:10but humans were already drawing cave
04:12paintings hundreds of thousands of years
04:14ago the cavemen had to recognize hunting
04:16trails and how to find their way home if
04:18they got lost and so visual memory was
04:21very important nowadays in the world of
04:23studying and learning one method of
04:25visualization is the mind palace
04:27associating information with vivid
04:29imagery but once you combine it with
04:31storytelling it helps retention even
04:33more basically to remember anything you
04:35need a place to store it you need a
04:37place to put the information i would
04:38take the first president which is
04:39washington i would turn it into a
04:41pitcher and i would see a washing
04:43machine interacting with the bank of
04:45america sign maybe see the the clothes
04:47flying out and the soap going everywhere
04:48but a watch machine on bank of america
04:50the american eagle sign i would
04:52visualize the dam and the dam's breaking
04:54and it's filling up with water and it's
04:56it's flooding this area because a dam
04:57for adams and then number three however
04:59tonight that basketball player had a
05:00chef's hat on third president was
05:02jefferson or jefferson so again using
05:05the microbiology example i loved using
05:07this tool called sketchy micro instead
05:09of learning about bacteria like this
05:12we got to learn about bacteria like this
05:15sketchy micro used pictures to describe
05:17bacterial characteristics like this one
05:19salmonella interrididus is represented
05:21by a chicken because you get it from
05:23eating uncooked chicken and salmonella
05:25typhi is represented by a seagull
05:27because it affects your gallbladder or
05:29gallbladder get it because it lives in
05:31your gallbladder but the point is that
05:33it's just so vivid like you can remember
05:35just with pictures and on top of that
05:38there's this overarching story about the
05:40characters and the salmon and the props
05:42and it just ties everything together and
05:44makes it incredibly easy to remember
05:46with loads of details yeah so this was a
05:48great tool for medicine so if you know
05:50of similar resources in your subject
05:52whatever you're studying then please put
05:54it in the comments below to help your
05:56so that was the power of how stories are
05:59just so memorable now let's look at how
06:01stories can boost your motivation to
06:03help you take action and to keep
06:05learning the first reason has to do with
06:07emotions more specifically the brain
06:10chemistry behind those emotions what you
06:15you launch a cliffhanger and the most
06:17beautiful thing of all is that all
06:19storytelling is per definition dopamine
06:23because it's always something that we're
06:24waiting and expecting so just imagine
06:27just by using storytelling you can get
06:29those techniques you don't have to do a
06:30cliffhanger like i did as you might know
06:32dopamine is a chemical that increases
06:34focus memory and most importantly
06:37motivation in terms of stories it's
06:39basically you wanting to learn and
06:41wanting to hear what happens next i know
06:44a lot of us struggle with motivation
06:46myself included like how do we want to
06:49learn and want to study when we lack
06:52motivation to study well stories are a
06:55way to scientifically increase your
06:57motivation to learn we're curious
06:59creatures we want to know what comes
07:01next to feed that curiosity that comes
07:03from within you're no longer just
07:05studying because you were told to study
07:07or just studying because there's a scary
07:09exam looming in the future but dopamine
07:11isn't the only chemical we're talking
07:13about hearing sad stories can release
07:15oxytocin which makes you more empathetic
07:17hearing funny stories releases
07:19endorphins which can make you more
07:21relaxed and creative noob master yeah
07:24noob master 69 including addicted
07:28new master hey it's thor again you know
07:30the god of thunder listen buddy if you
07:32don't log off this game immediately i'm
07:34gonna fly over to your house come down
07:36to that basement you're hiding in rip
07:38off your arms and shove them up your
07:40so hopefully all this science made sense
07:42to you and hopefully you can apply it to
07:44boost your learning the other factor
07:46about stories that motivates us to learn
07:48is relatability when i see boring and
07:51dry lists of information to learn it can
07:54be overwhelming and i think why does
07:56this even matter to me well stories
07:58answer that question and put things into
08:00perspective gonna use microbiology yet
08:03again for this example but i remember
08:05one of the professors taught antibiotics
08:07to us and she just nerded out about the
08:09chemical structure and the molecular
08:11science about it granted she was a
08:13pharmacist's phd but it was completely
08:15irrelevant to us medical students but
08:17our other microbiota professor made it
08:19more relevant to us talking about how to
08:22go about picking the right one to treat
08:25like this one's good for kids this one's
08:28safe for pregnant women which ones to
08:30avoid if they have allergies all of a
08:31sudden this dense information became
08:34much more relevant to me because now i
08:36know how to use that information in real
08:38life relevance is such an important
08:39factor in the learning process which is
08:41why platforms like skillshare are so
08:44popular skillshare is different from
08:46traditional school like in university
08:48your teachers are predetermined and if
08:50that teacher is just too far removed
08:52from your struggles they teach the info
08:54but they don't actually use the info or
08:57they don't make the information relevant
08:58to you then you're screwed right like
09:00good luck trying to figure out that
09:02information on your own but on
09:03skillshare you have the luxury of
09:05choosing your own teacher you can find a
09:07teacher that you connect with or someone
09:08who walks in the same shoes as you
09:11that's why people are always saying that
09:12sometimes the best teacher is a person
09:14who is just a few steps ahead of you
09:17like some of the best teachers i've ever
09:19had or not the older doctors who've been
09:21working for 30 years but actually the
09:23med students or the residents that were
09:25just a few classes above me because not
09:28too long ago they were in my shoes and
09:31they know the struggles from my point of
09:32view and this makes a lot of sense when
09:34we see that so many of you here on this
09:36channel are students who are just
09:39younger versions of ourselves you're
09:41just younger mike and maddie's or
09:43michelle and madeline's and that's why
09:45we love making videos to help you if you
09:47haven't already definitely check out
09:48some of our skillshare courses links in
09:51the description and they were kind
09:52enough to sponsor this video but even if
09:54they didn't i still be talking about
09:57just keep in mind that the science of
09:59stories is just one way you can
10:01structure your understanding of
10:02information there's so much more to
10:04unpack that i can't possibly fit it into
10:06this video so if you want to learn more
10:08about the mike and maddie map check out
10:10these videos right here
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