What if you could learn from the experiences of the millions of humans who came before you and who share the world with you now? How? In their stories. In the true ones and in the fiction they write, which still comes from their truth. The Star Wars universe was a story, but it talks about tyranny, and slavery, corruption and hate and the all consuming motivation of love to do everything from the ultimate bravery to the most horrendous selfishness. The Diary of Anne Frank, Schindlers List, these are stories but they teach truth, and they express pain and fear and anger in a first hand manner in such a way that someone who was never exposed to that time and that place can know it after a fashion and hopefully, learn from it, and never make the mistake of the viewpoints that lead to those heinous crimes. Even the novels by J. R. R. Tolkien held valuable lessons on the dangers of absolute power, the strength of conviction, and the wisdom of time and patience. But it also showed us that there is indeed as both the Bible and the Beatles tell us, a time and a season for all emotions, they all have a purpose if channeled appropriately. There is a time for biding of ones time and there is a time for haste. Fiction, contrary to what a lot of egg heads think, Fiction is critical to the development of our species. To our very evolution, it brings all the lessons of history into the forefront of the minds eye, so they are more than just facts on a page, they breath, they cry, they cringe and they writhe in pain, they mark us so they can never be forgotten or belittled. Fiction is how we explore who we were, who we are, and who we want to be and who we never want to become. All fiction.

Generally I have found that individuals who don't like novels/fictional books, are individuals who have a serious lack of imagination and a lack of understanding of the point of fiction. So I will elucidate. From the beginning of time man sat around camp fires and told stories to the children of the clans. Now the point of those stories was to teach to each successive generation the morals and beliefs of the clan. The stories taught selfless over selfish, love over hate, hard work over sloth, basic respect for all men rather than a haughty condescension, honesty over deciet, etc, etc. Over time the forums have changed, but man still does it. We still tell stories to teach morals and values, beliefs and philosophies to each successive generation. A non-fiction book can teach you how to do something, but fiction can help you see different ways of being, of living. By seeing this, we may change the way we deal with the people we meet every day. We may decide to follow a religion, we may decide to follow no religion. Stories build cultural understanding and broaden the mind that our perspective is not the only one in existence, nor is ours valid alone. Fiction in movies, tv shows and books, teaches the dangers of tyranny and the corruption of all consuming power. It teaches the tendency of humans in all the varying emotions that run the gambit from greed to love to fear, it helps a person understand all the different ways that a person can view the world, life and the relationships we form with our fellow man. Wives, husbands, children, boyfriends, girlfriends, bosses, employees, business partners, in-laws, etc. The point of fiction isn't that it could happen or did happen or should happen or will happen, but, it takes a perspective and explores all the ways it could go horribly wrong, or it takes a concept and displays all the wonderful things it could bring to the world. What if you didn't have only your own experiences to learn from? What if you coul