Tell Me A Story cont'd...the difficulty of communication

On two separate occasions these past few days I was struck by how people construe their worlds, what stories they come up with to make sense of new situations:

One, a Berlin city magazine had a review of a new documentary film, the title of which escapes me, that is about Mormon missionaries and their training. Now, for the sake of full disclosure I'll state that I once was a member of that church and still enjoy reading their monthly church magazine. But I digress. The concluding sentence of that review went something like, "not bad, but it doesn't delve deep enough into the secrets of this homophobic sect".

Now, you may make sense of the Mormons in one way or another, but I dare say for most of us, real or imagined homophobia is not the first thing that comes to mind. Polygamy might, although that would also be inaccurate. Only if your own construct system has the homosexual/ heterosexual dichotomy as a core construct will you approach information about anything first and foremost from that angle.

The other experience evolved a conversation I had in class. My notebook happened to have a picture of Ronald and Nancy Reagan as a background, and a fellow student incredulously asked whether I actually liked Reagan (I do), because, and I paraphrase, "he was so conservative, and against gays and everything".
Again, I submit that in the grand context of world history, Reagan's position vis-a-vis homosexuals is a footnote at best and he will be remembered for other things, and while I am a fan of the man, I understand that many of his policies may be debatable.

Tenuous though it may be, I'd just like to make the connection to my previous post on Roger Schank's book, Tell Me A Story. People really do seem to make sense of the world, and of new experiences, by indexing and referencing them with "stories" they know. And obviously, you "know" stories that are of importance to you. So, if the situation of gays and lesbians is a concern to you, you have a repertory of stories and experiences that you refer to when you encounter something new. And this also means that you may be reluctant to accept new aspects, if they threaten the construct system you have evolved.

So, in a sense, two people can never really understand each other. Even if they hear the same story, they may come to radically different conclusions because in their minds, they may emphasize totally different aspects.

Well, thanks for bearing with me. This is an interesting topic (or so I think) and I may come back to that again.