From earliest childhood—listening to our parents reading stories to us at bedtime—we learn that the events that shape our world don't just happen. Instead, they follow familiar plot trajectories in which protagonists set out on quests, encounter obstacles, surmount challenges, battle antagonists and ultimately resolve their conflicts by using what they have learned along their journey. This isn't just how story works; for the narrative mind, this is how the world works.

This is one of the central insights of my Film, Literature and the New World Order series: movies, books and TV series aren't mere popcorn entertainment. They reflect our understanding of the world, and—in the hands of the would-be social engineers and predictive programmers—even the dumbest B-movie can be used to implant an idea in the public's mind. By this method, fiction writers and film producers play a part in indirectly controlling the public's perception of the world.