This came in the mail yesterday from a friend, it is old news but perhaps
sheds some light on our endeavor:

Robert Ornstein To Speak at Library of Congress on Afghan "Teaching-Stories"
and the Brain
Leading psychologist says little-known literary form develops thinking
skills
A form of literature little-known in the West but common in Afghanistan can
help develop thinking skills and perceptions, says neuropsychiatric expert
Robert Ornstein.

The internationally renowned psychologist, pioneering researcher and author
of more than 20 books--including "The Psychology of Consciousness," "The
Roots of the Self" and "The Amazing Brain"--will discuss this form of
literature, called the "teaching-story," at the Library of Congress Friday,
Nov. 1 2002, 6:30-7:30 p.m. in the Mumford Room, sixth floor, Madison
Building, 101 Independence Ave. S.E. in Washington, D.C.

While Western educators and psychologists are just now beginning to
acknowledge the effectiveness of this type of story in developing thinking
skills and perceptions, it is still largely unknown here, though it has been
used for such purposes elsewhere in the world for centuries, says Ornstein.
Although found in many cultures, it is especially prevalent in Afghanistan,
Central Asia and the Middle East, he notes.

On the surface, says Ornstein, teaching-stories often appear to be little
more than fairy or folk tales. But they are designed to embody-in their
characters, plots and imagery-patterns and relationships that nurture a part
of the mind that is unreachable in more direct ways, thus increasing our
understanding and breadth of vision, in addition to fostering our ability to
think critically.

"These are stories with improbable events that lead the reader's mind into
new and unexplored venues, allow her or him to develop more flexibility and
to understand this complex world better," he says.

Ornstein, who has taught at Stanford, Harvard and the University of
California, San Francisco, says psychologists have found that reading
teaching-stories activates the right side of the brain much more than does
reading normal prose.

"The right side of the brain provides 'context,' the essential function of
putting together the different components of experience," he says. "The left
side provides the 'text,' or the pieces themselves."

Ornstein sees stories as being part of our basic cognitive development,
leading the child and then the adult to learn more about what happens in the
world, when and how events come together. He points out that the stories of
all cultures share more in this regard than they differ, and that an
analysis of stories throughout the world shows that the same story occurs
time and again in different cultures.

"Stories have been part of all cultures from time immemorial," says
Ornstein, "but only recently has their psychological significance been
discovered, especially in teaching-stories."