"The Life of Pi:" Which story do you like better

The Life of Pi, was for me a fine movie. In it a young man survives a shipwreck and relates his story to a reporter who would like to write about it. He tell the reporter a fantastic story of his survival in a life boat shared for much of the time with a ferocious tiger. Investigators, seeking to understand why the ship went down do not believe the original story so Pi tells them an alternate story more believable than the first. We are never told which story might actually be factual but Pi asks the reporter which one he like better. The reporter answers the more fantsastical one! Herein lies the core of tonight's discussion. Does science, facts and perhaps truth have any role in the stories we live by or do we simply live by the stories we like best? Does the conflict between facts and wishful thinking have any role in today's political struggles?