Fascinating post John, on many levels. You help us understand the "resurgence of fundamentalist movements around the world as well as the continuing appeal of nationalism" which are our biggest threats. I like your distinction between stories and narratives, narrative being the never-ending story, the tapestry of our lives as humanity. There is one phrase which really resonated with me "Rather than waiting for the heroes who will bring us salvation, we can begin to look within and find the hero in all of us." What if we explored the hero and the heroine inside and slowly extend it to the notion of tribe, weaved with the digital world? What if we needed to grow seeds of trust instead of religion? There's also a very high level of risk that the new narratives, taken to the collective level, have a soothing and mystifying effect on people, preventing them to think critically and to create. Back to Karl Marx 's famous line, Religion is the opium of the people. I like Gregory comment in becoming free of narrative. There's a fine line between freedom and slavery, between new collective narrative and new religion. "Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions." It is very tempting while the world goes into pieces and one has to be extra cautious not to alienate our freedom whe looking for Utopia... Let's start the Hero and Heroine's Journey with constellations of digitally connected tribes...