I think what bothers us about fighting sports isn't the damage to the athlete but the fact that you win by doing… — Jonathan Gottschall Copy Share Image
I watch fights and I often feel morally compromised by it. I feel like I'm morally culpable for what's occurring because I'm… — Jonathan Gottschall Copy Share Image
When you spar in boxing, the only thing that gets hurt is your brain. Everything else feels pretty good. — Jonathan Gottschall Copy Share Image
A boxing contest is a brain-damage contest. Who can give out more brain damage and who can absorb more of it? — Jonathan Gottschall Copy Share Image
People like head trauma. They love knockouts. The crowd is silent, silent, silent... and then a knockout happens, and everyone goes native.… — Jonathan Gottschall Copy Share Image
I think the proper attitude toward fighting sports is one of ambivalence. You can be drawn to them, but you should also… — Jonathan Gottschall Copy Share Image
The top fighters spar hard. They're really sparring for two reasons: One is to improve their technique, but the other, which is… — Jonathan Gottschall Copy Share Image
In an effort to civilize combat sports, authorities mandated padded gloves and instantly made the sports far more savage. Granted, putting gloves… — Jonathan Gottschall Copy Share Image
What you do in a fight gym is learn how to be brave. You're learning how to punch and kick in a… — Jonathan Gottschall Copy Share Image
Getting punched in the face with a padded glove doesn't really hurt your face. It doesn't hurt your skull. The only thing… — Jonathan Gottschall Copy Share Image
It's an empirical question whether training makes one more or less likely to get in a fight outside the gym. In some… — Jonathan Gottschall Copy Share Image
Fighting is really, really rewarding. I truly enjoyed it. I got feelings from fighting that were bigger than those I had experienced… — Jonathan Gottschall Copy Share Image
I think that a lot of people who like training with guns are probably drawn to it not only for practical reasons,… — Jonathan Gottschall Copy Share Image
Putting gloves on the fighters was a symbolic change that suggested that we were now making it a civilized sport, and it… — Jonathan Gottschall Copy Share Image
In boxing, where most of the guys are from lower-class backgrounds and have darker skin than most of the fans, one might… — Jonathan Gottschall Copy Share Image
I think what bothers us about fighting sports isn't the damage to the athlete but the fact that you win by doing more harm… — Jonathan Gottschall Copy Share
If someone breaks into your home when you're there - that is, they don't wait to be sure that the house is empty -… — Jonathan Gottschall Copy Share
Part of why I was attracted to the idea of owning a gun was self-defense, and part of it was that I've been fascinated… — Jonathan Gottschall Copy Share
Human minds yield helplessly to the suction of story. No matter how hard we concentrate, no matter how deep we dig in our heels,… — Jonathan Gottschall Copy Share
“As the video game designer and writer James Wallis puts it, “Human beings like stories. Our brains have a natural affinity not only for… — Jonathan Gottschall Copy Share
In an effort to civilize combat sports, authorities mandated padded gloves and instantly made the sports far more savage. Granted, putting gloves on the… — Jonathan Gottschall Copy Share
People like head trauma. They love knockouts. The crowd is silent, silent, silent... and then a knockout happens, and everyone goes native. There would… — Jonathan Gottschall Copy Share
Fiction seems to be more effective at changing beliefs than nonfiction, which is designed to persuade through argument and evidence. Studies show that when… — Jonathan Gottschall Copy Share
We are, as a species, addicted to story. Even when the body goes to sleep, the mind stays up all night, telling itself stories. — Jonathan Gottschall Copy Share
Getting punched in the face with a padded glove doesn't really hurt your face. It doesn't hurt your skull. The only thing it hurts… — Jonathan Gottschall Copy Share
Story is where people go to practice the key skills of human social life. — Jonathan Gottschall Copy Share
The brain stays up all night telling stories while we sleep. We just call them dreams. — Jonathan Gottschall Copy Share
“Commentators frequently blame MMORPGs for an increasing sense of isolation in modern life. But virtual worlds are less a cause of that isolation than… — Jonathan Gottschall Copy Share
“Conspiracy theories—feverishly creative, lovingly plotted—are in fact fictional stories that some people believe. Conspiracy theorists connect real data points and imagined data points into… — Jonathan Gottschall Copy Share
I watch fights and I often feel morally compromised by it. I feel like I'm morally culpable for what's occurring because I'm the spectator… — Jonathan Gottschall Copy Share
