Jonathan Gottschall

We are a species addicted to a stories.

— Jonathan Gottschall

If you want to burrow a message into a human mind. Work it into a story

— Jonathan Gottschall

Story is where people go to practice the key skills of human social life.

— Jonathan Gottschall

“Like Tom Sawyer whitewashing the fence, authors trick readers into doing most of the imaginative work.”

— Jonathan Gottschall

When you spar in boxing, the only thing that gets hurt is your brain. Everything else feels pretty good.

— Jonathan Gottschall

We are, as a species, addicted to story. Even when the body goes to sleep, the mind stays up all night, telling…

— Jonathan Gottschall

The brain stays up all night telling stories while we sleep. We just call them dreams.

— Jonathan Gottschall

Bull riding is probably the most dangerous sport in the world in terms of head injuries.

— Jonathan Gottschall

We are creatures of story, and the process of changing one mind or the whole world must begin with 'Once upon a…

— Jonathan Gottschall

A boxing contest is a brain-damage contest. Who can give out more brain damage and who can absorb more of it?

— Jonathan Gottschall

I'm living in the heart of gun culture, but I'm not a gun guy. I didn't grow up with them; I was…

— Jonathan Gottschall

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

Human minds yield helplessly to the suction of story. No matter how hard we concentrate, no matter how deep we dig in…

— Jonathan Gottschall

I don't think people are reacting primarily to the danger of the sport. There are many other activities that are truly dangerous…

— Jonathan Gottschall

Part of why I was attracted to the idea of owning a gun was self-defense, and part of it was that I've…

— Jonathan Gottschall

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

My reason for arguing against abolishing these types of sports isn't some kind of lofty, philosophical rationale. It's just that I did…

— Jonathan Gottschall

Humans simply aren’t moved to action by 'data dumps,' dense PowerPoint slides, or spreadsheets packed with figures. People are moved by emotion.…

— Jonathan Gottschall

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

Whenever I was confronted in the schoolyard, I found some way to avoid the fight. I ran for it. I backed down.…

— Jonathan Gottschall

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

Putting gloves on the fighters was a symbolic change that suggested that we were now making it a civilized sport, and it…

— Jonathan Gottschall

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

Fiction seems to be more effective at changing beliefs than nonfiction, which is designed to persuade through argument and evidence. Studies show…

— Jonathan Gottschall

The storytelling mind is allergic to uncertainty, randomness, and coincidence. It is addicted to meaning. If the storytelling mind cannot find meaningful…

— Jonathan Gottschall

“Commentators frequently blame MMORPGs for an increasing sense of isolation in modern life. But virtual worlds are less a cause of that…

— Jonathan Gottschall

“As the video game designer and writer James Wallis puts it, “Human beings like stories. Our brains have a natural affinity not…

— Jonathan Gottschall

“Conspiracy theories—feverishly creative, lovingly plotted—are in fact fictional stories that some people believe. Conspiracy theorists connect real data points and imagined data…

— Jonathan Gottschall

We are critical and skeptical. But when we are absorbed in a story, we drop our intellectual guard.

— Jonathan Gottschall

I think the proper attitude toward fighting sports is one of ambivalence. You can be drawn to them, but you should also…

— Jonathan Gottschall

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

If someone breaks into your home when you're there - that is, they don't wait to be sure that the house is…

— Jonathan Gottschall

I think that a lot of people who like training with guns are probably drawn to it not only for practical reasons,…

— Jonathan Gottschall

“Memories are often pruned and shaped by an ego-enhancing bias that blurs the edges of past events, softens culpability, and distorts what…

— Jonathan Gottschall

Fighting is really, really rewarding. I truly enjoyed it. I got feelings from fighting that were bigger than those I had experienced…

— Jonathan Gottschall

The average daydream is about fourteen seconds long and we have about two thousand of them per day. In other words, we…

— Jonathan Gottschall

I have this little neighbor next door. He comes over and tells me about playing Call of Duty, and he's talking about,…

— Jonathan Gottschall

Don't despair for story's future or turn curmudgeonly over the rise of video games or reality TV. The way we experience story…

— Jonathan Gottschall

People like head trauma. They love knockouts. The crowd is silent, silent, silent... and then a knockout happens, and everyone goes native.…

— Jonathan Gottschall

I can walk into a gun store in my town and buy military-grade weapons. You'd be shocked by the amount of firepower…

— Jonathan Gottschall