Law of Narrative Gravity

Stories pull. Once a narrative takes hold, it attracts evidence, attention, and belief. Facts that fit the story get amplified; facts that don't get discounted or ignored. The law of narrative gravity names this: narratives have mass. They bend interpretation toward them. The same event can be read as a sign of resilience or a sign of decline — the narrative in play determines which reading wins. In markets, a "soft landing" narrative pulls in favourable data and pushes away recession signals until the narrative breaks. In companies, a "turnaround" narrative can rally the team and attract capital — or a "decline" narrative can become self-fulfilling. The strategic move is to recognise which narrative you're in, whether you're shaping it or being shaped by it, and when the narrative has detached from reality enough to snap back.

The law doesn't say narratives are false. It says they have gravitational force. A true narrative still pulls — it just doesn't eventually collide with reality. A false or oversimplified narrative pulls until the gap between story and facts becomes too large; then the narrative collapses and a new one forms. Persuasion, then, is partly the craft of building narrative mass: repeat the story, attach it to vivid events, align incentives so that key voices reinforce it. Analysis is partly the craft of resisting narrative gravity: ask what would disprove the story, look for disconfirming evidence, and separate "what happened" from "what it means."