1140: A Shortcut To Caring

Meet Judy. 

If the FIRST COMMANDMENT of storytelling is 'MAKE ME CARE', she's the bomb.



She’s one of the cool, capable badasses from Cyberpunk 2077, and yesterday, she asked me the question that MOST MEN FEAR above all others.



"You know exactly what I’m tryna say. What did it mean, like, to you?"



The possible answers:



1) The beginning of something amazing

2) A pleasant distraction.



Hmmm.



I spent way longer thinking about my answer than any adult should … at least while playing a video game.



Except … video games ARE life, dammit. They matter like any of the stories we immerse ourselves in – the novels, the TV shows, the self-serving fictions.



Judy matters.



I know because her question flooded my brain with Cortisol, the stress hormone. I know because of how long I sat there, staring at the screen.



It reminded me of 2020 when I shot and killed a bad guy in The Last Of Us Part II.



He seemed nothing special. After 40 years of gaming, I’ve shot hundreds of thousands like him. Nameless, faceless baddies who make up the numbers.



But then, one of his (nameless faceless) bad guy buddies howled out his victim's name.



"John, JOHN…. Nooooooooooooooo!"



It was a bucket of ice water to the face. What dark magic was this? If the bad guy had a name, what else did he have? Parents? Pets? A child?



Like yesterday, my brain was bathing in chemicals - Cortisol, Dopamine and the rest.



Or to put it another way ... feelings.



"Fine", you might say, "but how does this help me tell better business stories?"



The truth is ... I think that John and Judy are pointing the way towards something pretty powerful.



Identity.



But we'll dig deeper into that tomorrow.



Nick

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The Stories Mean Business podcast with Nick Warren.

One Idea A Day, Every Day.



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