There is substantial interdisciplinary research (psychology, neuroscience, cognitive science) showing that narrative thinking is structural to human cognition, not just cultural or trained.
Bruner (1986) found that people naturally encode experience as stories to make sense of causality and intention.
McAdams' (1993) empirical personality research shows people construct "life stories" as part of their identity formation and mental health, and narrative coherence correlates with psychological well-being.
Oatley & Mar (2008) found that reading stories activates brain regions tied to theory of mind and empathy, suggesting that stories simulate real social experience, reinforcing narrative cognition.
Schank & Abelson (1977) did early AI (symbolic rule-based systems meant to model human reasoning, not machine learning as we know it today) and cognitive psychology work showing people interpret events through stored "scripts" (story-like mental structures).
Damasio (1999) found neuroscience evidence that consciousness depends on constructing an ongoing autobiographical narrative linking emotion, memory, and perception.
Immordino-Yang & Damasio (2007) found through neuroimaging studies that emotion and social understanding rely on brain systems engaged by narrative thought.
Humans seem wired to understand the world through story structures. The post's critique is partly right (entertainment can distort expectations, and our stories change us, too) but it might be incorrect to broadly declare that narrative thinking itself is primarily the result of an external (and somewhat artificial) pressure. It appears to be innate.