This keeps popping up in my life! Time to actually read the essay and think about it.

https://stillmoving.org/resources/the-carrier-bag-theory-of-fiction

Ursula K. Le Guin draws on the carrier bag theory of evolution, which is the idea that the first cultural invention was not a weapon, but something to carry small things with--food like oats or berries. Of course, as she ponders the cave days, she says, essentially, the story of killing a mammoth--a hero story-- is far more exciting than that of gathering wild oats.

She's right-- we care more about dramatic heroic stories of conflict--that's the way we've been socialized, the way we've been raised. In the essay, however, she argues that there are other emotions that make valuable stories, other than conflict.

Still, there aren't many stories that seem to follow the carrier bag theory. At least, not at first glance, and often not in Western storytelling. A video I watched (https://youtu.be/aDclXs0fWMI?si=74-0Wed0qjBQtAQl) explaining this phenomenon used Studio Ghibli films as an example, calling the stakes "deeply (inter)personal." I have often thought of My Neighbor Totoro as an example of this type of thing. There's no "real" conflict, at least, not until the third of four acts, when Mei goes missing. But even so, it's not really a conflict so much as a misunderstanding. This prompts the viewer to not feel conflict, but rather, the fear of losing a loved one, which is a theme throughout the movie as the girls' mother struggles with her health. The fourth act, in kishotenketsu, is wrapping up of the story. When Mei is found, the feeling evoked is relief, and the movie ends happily.