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

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

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

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

— 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

In an effort to civilize combat sports, authorities mandated padded gloves and instantly made the sports far more savage. Granted, putting gloves…

— 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

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

— 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

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

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

— Jonathan Gottschall

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

— 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

“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

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

If I do get a handgun, I can take it to the sheriff's department, and in about as much time as it…

— Jonathan Gottschall

We are a species addicted to a stories.

— 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

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

— 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

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

— Jonathan Gottschall

Until recently we’ve only been able to speculate about story's persuasive effects. But over the last several decades psychology has begun 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

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

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