If you want to burrow a message into a human mind. Work it into a story Jonathan Gottschall More Quotes by Jonathan Gottschall More Quotes From Jonathan Gottschall 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 marketing sleep night The average daydream is about fourteen seconds long and we have about two thousand of them per day. In other words, we spend about half of our waking hours - one-third of our lives on earth - spinning fantasies. Jonathan Gottschall average two long The brain stays up all night telling stories while we sleep. We just call them dreams. Jonathan Gottschall dream sleep night If someone breaks into your home when you're there - that is, they don't wait to be sure that the house is empty - it's a bad situation. Honor doesn't come into it at all. Anything you need to do to survive at that point becomes A-OK. Jonathan Gottschall waiting house home We are creatures of story, and the process of changing one mind or the whole world must begin with 'Once upon a time.' Jonathan Gottschall once-upon-a-time stories mind Humans simply aren’t moved to action by 'data dumps,' dense PowerPoint slides, or spreadsheets packed with figures. People are moved by emotion. The best way to emotionally connect other people to our agenda begins with “Once upon a time Jonathan Gottschall data once-upon-a-time people Until recently we’ve only been able to speculate about story's persuasive effects. But over the last several decades psychology has begun a serious study of how story affects the human mind. Results repeatedly show that our attitudes, fears, hopes, and values are strongly influenced by story. In fact, fiction seems to be more effective at changing beliefs than writing that is specifically designed to persuade through argument and evidence. Jonathan Gottschall psychology writing attitude I think that a lot of people who like training with guns are probably drawn to it not only for practical reasons, but also in that same restless quest for physical excellence that draws people to a martial arts dojo. Jonathan Gottschall gun art thinking Human minds yield helplessly to the suction of story. No matter how hard we concentrate, no matter how deep we dig in our heels, we just can't resist the gravity of alternate worlds. Jonathan Gottschall yield stories mind Story is where people go to practice the key skills of human social life. Jonathan Gottschall skills keys practice 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 by guns since I was a little kid, and I want to play with them. It seems like a lot of fun. Jonathan Gottschall gun fun kids Don't despair for story's future or turn curmudgeonly over the rise of video games or reality TV. The way we experience story will evolve, but as storytelling animals, we will no more give it up than start walking on all fours. Jonathan Gottschall games animal reality The storytelling mind is allergic to uncertainty, randomness, and coincidence. It is addicted to meaning. If the storytelling mind cannot find meaningful patterns in the world, it will try to impose them. In short, the storytelling mind is a factory that churns out true stories when it can, but will manufacture lies when it can’t. Jonathan Gottschall mind meaningful lying Fiction seems to be more effective at changing beliefs than nonfiction, which is designed to persuade through argument and evidence. Studies show that when we read nonfiction, we read with our shields up. We are critical and skeptical. But when we are absorbed in a story, we drop our intellectual guard. We are moved emotionally, and this seems to make us rubbery and easy to shape. Jonathan Gottschall intellectual stories fiction I think the proper attitude toward fighting sports is one of ambivalence. You can be drawn to them, but you should also be repelled by them. Jonathan Gottschall fighting attitude sports We are critical and skeptical. But when we are absorbed in a story, we drop our intellectual guard. Jonathan Gottschall skeptical intellectual stories Commentators frequently blame MMORPGs for an increasing sense of isolation modern life. But virtual worlds are less a cause of that isolation than a response to it. Virtual worlds give back what has been scooped out of modern life. The virtual world is in important ways more authentically human than the real world. It gives us back community, a feeling of competence, and a sense of being an important person whom people depend on. Jonathan Gottschall real giving people I have this little neighbor next door. He comes over and tells me about playing Call of Duty, and he's talking about, 'Aw yeah, I slit this guy in the throat and then I stuck a grenade up this guy's ass.' He's describing it in all this detail, and that makes me uncomfortable. I don't think that's good for him. Jonathan Gottschall playing-games doors thinking A boxing contest is a brain-damage contest. Who can give out more brain damage and who can absorb more of it? Jonathan Gottschall boxing brain giving We are a species addicted to a stories. Jonathan Gottschall species stories
