Cowen thinks stories mislead us in two ways.
First, he thinks they mislead us because they simplify matters. Stories, he says, cut out a whole lot of information. If you want to tell a story about Jesus, Alexander the Great, or Anne McCreary who lives at 231 Westmoreland Street, that story requires you to leave a whole lot of stuff out.
He's right about that.
Second, Cowen thinks stories can beguile us. He thinks they can present life in a light that is so compelling that we forget to pay attention to details that run counter to the story. Details we really ought to be paying attention to. I'm not so sure he is right about that.
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