Mathematical Biology Seminar Jonathan Butner Psychology, University of Utah Wednesday Oct 4, 2006 3:05pm in LCB 215 "When the facts just don't add up: The fractal nature of conversational stories" Abstract: This research aims to depict stories as a dynamic interplay of facts and interpretations in time weaving what Bruner described as the landscape of action and consciousness. Using a dynamic systems approach, a series of conversational stories are examined in terms of their fractal nature. It is hypothesized that stories are fractal because over time, factual and interpretive information constrains how the story may continue, speaker, listener, and the situation all contributing to these constraints.