The disappearance of the oral story telling tradition

The steady erosion of a unique human trait

When I was growing up there was no television or any other form of entertainment. Our entertainment was either from reading or telling each other stories. When friends congregated they told stories rather than stare at small screens. Family gatherings were fascinating as the adults always had stories to tell, about work or neighbors or an event from the past.

I believe the oral story telling tradition is being lost rapidly as few feel the need to actually relate a story and when they do they make it so boring that the audience tunes out. I recently heard a couple of stories narrated by friends about their distant relatives suffering from the effects of Covid. Both stories were about people unknown to me. I realized my interest started to wane in less than a minute from the start of the tale not because of my unfamiliarity with the protagonists but because of the minutae of details in the story being related by the story teller. In relating the tale they also started to editorialize by providing explanations for the events unfolding as they did. I soon lost track of the main story and wanted to walk away.

I try to ascertain the difference between people who are fascinating story tellers and those who can bore me to tears within…