# True Stories By:: [[Ross Jackson]] 2022-12-11 Does a true story have to be factually accurate? Many stories are presented as true that are suspect in terms of the facts. One such story involves the acceptance of cake mixes. As the story goes, companies offered complete cake mixes that required one to simply add water and bake. These mixes were not selling well. A person in the company determined that offering a slightly less complete cake mix, one that required adding eggs and water, would make the person making the cake feel more involved in the baking process. According to the story, this modification is what spurred the ultimate success of the product. Is that story factually accurate? While there is some ambiguity, the story as told is probably not completely accurate. At a minimum, there are other considerations. To list only a couple, consumers found that the cakes made with real eggs stayed fresh longer and didn’t stick to the pan as much when cooking. So, it could be that the mix requiring real eggs was qualitatively better and it wasn’t that the person was more invested in the making of the cake. Is that story a true story? Yes. A true story is not constrained by factual accuracy. If one starts with the notion that any story is an account shared for entertainment or education, then a true story is simply an account that contains an element of truth that is meant to be conveyed through the telling of the story. In the case of the cake mix story, the truth it contains is that humans are quirky. Understanding that humans might find something that is more challenging, or requires more work, more fulfilling is an important insight into how humans engage with products. The cake story is true to the extent that it conveys this truth. It is true despite its factual inaccuracies. #### Related Items [[Storytelling]] [[Accuracy]] [[Truth]]