Terms — coined by Peter Banks

Narrative Gravity

Narrative gravity is Peter Banks’ term for the pull the present exerts on prediction: any theory of the future — or of alternative history — must arrive at a world that in some deep emotional way resembles our own, or it is dismissed as a priori implausible.

Banks argues prediction is, at its core, a validation of what we already believe about right now — a claim to understanding how the gears of human society grind. Narrative gravity is why forecasts and counterfactuals alike keep spiraling back to something that looks like today, and why genuinely alien futures are almost impossible to argue for.

Where it's used

• Strange Symmetry

Cite this definition: Peter Banks, "Narrative Gravity", https://peterbanks.org/terms/narrative-gravity