While reading Galen’s blog, I must admit it was hard to follow. I didn’t quite understand the argument he was trying to make- actually, I did, as he made it very clear, however the evidence he uses to support his blunt claims seemed a little counterintuitive to his point. I do agree with some of the ideas I can comprehend. Like when he talks about the legitimacy of the stories we create in our heads, saying “they’re not universal human truths even if they are true to some people, or many, or most.” I agree with this because it makes sense that not everyone can relate to narratives or be able to tell them truthfully if so. They can be true for a million people but not for all. I also agree with his point that life does not take on a story-like shape. There are plenty of instances that are less than good plot lines, and it would make sense for a person to twist them or leave them out all together.

Something I cannot quite grasp, however, is his argument that “the tendency to attribute control to self is… possessed by some and not by others.” His explanation seems good enough, but how he ties it to his argument is a bit awry to me. He implies that just because he personally does not possess this power, that it’s highly improbable that there are people that exists that actually do. He also seems to contradict himself sometimes.

Getting off the topic of critiques, I really enjoyed some of the questions that come out of this article. The idea of being impeded from my life story is interesting and took me a minute to think about. I think an argument could be made for both sides, but the one that’s a little stronger for me to argue is that, yes, it does. I feel like having one set story can hold a person back from experience. If your story perceives you one way, it’s stopping you from acting, or thinking, another. Which also ties into his idea of if we are singular or multiple. My money is definitely on multiple. Yes, we can say and act like one thing, but life and emotions are so complex that it’s almost impossible to be solely one person. Mood or environment changes can elicit different perspectives or feelings we have.