Mistrust the Financial Storytellers

Homo narratus

Homo sapiens is the storytelling ape. We make sense of the things that happen in the world, of the things that happen to us, and even of ourselves, through stories and narratives. Consciousness is perhaps best defined as the stories we tell of ourselves as coherent individuals passing through time.

So it's not surprising that we're inclined to favor people who tell stories over those who crunch data. Words are human, numbers – somehow – are not. But the real stories lie in the numbers and, in investment, people who tell stories without the numbers are mystics and shamans, or worse.

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Money Matters, Your Opinion Doesn’t

Blame the French

Our brave new world is filled with a cacophony of opinions; everyone’s an expert. The proliferation of media channels, accompanied by ever more desperate attempts to keep up with social networking and inclusivity trends, is leading to a world governed by the lowest common denominator. Now get this: I want to be informed by people who actually understand what they’re talking about, even while reserving the right to disagree with them, rather than by someone whose main skill is in double-jointed thumbery and text messaging.

Aliens viewing the output of terrestrial media from afar are probably wondering what type of disease is decimating the intelligence of the average Earthling. This babble of uninformed opinions is swamping the already low level of intelligent comment available and nowhere is the problem greater than in finance where people start with the view that possession of a small amount of capital and an internet connection makes them gifted and talented investors. Still, if nothing else, we can probably blame the French.

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