"Insightful...draws from disparate corners of history and science to celebrate our compulsion to storify everything around us."— The New York Times Book ReviewHumans live in landscapes of make-believe. We spin fantasies. We devour novels, films, and plays. Even sporting events and criminal trials unfold as narratives. Yet the world of story has remained an undiscovered and unmapped country. It's easy to say that humans are "wired" for story, but why

An English professor begins training in the sport of mixed martial arts and explores the science and history behind the violence of menWhen a mixed martial arts (MMA) gym moves in across the street from his office, Jonathan Gottschall sees a challenge, and an opportunity. Pushing forty, out of shape, and disenchanted with his job as an adjunct English professor, part of him yearns to cross the street and join up. The other part is terrified. Gottschall eventually w...

««Jonathan Gottschall non è solo il più profondo pensatore in circolazione sul potente ruolo delle storie nelle nostre vite, ma è anche uno scrittore vivace e spiritoso. Il lato oscuro delle storie offre molte intuizioni e molti piaceri».»Steven Pinker, Harvard University, autore di Illuminismo adesso e Razionalità««In questo libro provocatorio e penetrante, Jonathan Gottschall ci mostra perché le storie pericolose si diffondono così rapidamente...

L’uomo passa più tempo immerso in un universo di finzione che nel mondo reale. Nessun altro animale dipende dalla narrazione quanto l’essere umano, lo «storytelling animal». Questo strano comportamento, che ci porta a mettere al centro della nostra esistenza cose che non esistono, è innato e antichissimo. Ma a che scopo? Jonathan Gottschall studia la narrazione da molti punti di vista e si muove tra biologia, psicologia, neuroscienze e letteratura, appoggiandosi alle ricerche più avanzate,...

"Mesmo quando o corpo vai dormir, a mente fica acordada toda a noite, a contar histórias a si própria."Vivemos em paisagens de faz-de-conta. Criamos fantasias. Devoramos romances, filmes e peças de teatro. Até os acontecimentos desportivos e os julgamentos criminais se desenrolam como narrativas. No entanto, o mundo das histórias permaneceu durante muito tempo território por descobrir e mapear. Com base em pesquisas em neurociência, psicologia e biologia evolutiva,...

Perché gli uomini combattono? Per scoprirlo, Jonathan Gottschall si immerge in un viaggio nella scienza, nella storia e nella letteratura della violenza, narrandoci di duelli all’alba, di sport al limite del suicidio, di arti marziali, di riti di iniziazione, di pugilato e di molto altro ancora. Quello che scopre è che più una società mette in mostra la propria violenza in contesti regolati, meno la violenza tracima poi davvero nelle strade. Il combattimento, insomma, è una strategia vince...

Storytelling, a tradition that built human civilization, may soon destroy itHumans are storytelling animals. Stories are what make our societies possible. Countless books celebrate their virtues. But Jonathan Gottschall, an expert on the science of stories, argues that there is a dark side to storytelling we can no longer ignore. Storytelling, the very tradition that built human civilization, may be the thing that destroys it.In The Story Paradox, ...

When a mixed martial arts (MMA) gym moves in across the street from his office, Jonathan Gottschall sees a challenge, and an opportunity. Pushing forty, out of shape, and disenchanted with his job as an adjunct English professor, part of him yearns to cross the street and join up. The other part is terrified. Gottschall eventually works up his nerve, and starts training for a real cage fight. He's fighting not only as a personal test but also to answer questions that have intrigued him for...

Humans live in landscapes of make-believe. We spin fantasies. We devour novels, films, and plays. Even sporting events and criminal trials unfold as narratives. Yet the world of story has long remained an undiscovered and unmapped country. It's easy to say that humans are "wired" for story, but why?In this delightful and original book, Jonathan Gottschall offers the first unified theory of storytelling. He argues that stories help us navigate life's complex social problems—just as ...

Storytelling, a tradition that built human civilization, may soon destroy itHumans are storytelling animals. Stories are what make our societies possible. Countless books celebrate their virtues. But Jonathan Gottschall, an expert on the science of stories, argues that there is a dark side to storytelling we can no longer ignore. Storytelling, the very tradition that built human civilization, may be the thing that destroys it.In The Story Paradox, ...

你喜歡聽故事嗎？一個吸引人的好故事可以建立文明世界，也很可能讓人類社會就此毀滅……本書帶你窺探故事背後席捲人心、讓人欲罷不能的黑暗秘密該如何影響他人？如何賺到他們的錢？如何向他人誇耀生命的美好？如何讓其他人和我有一樣的世界觀？如何逗他們笑、讓他們喜歡我？如何贏得他們的選票？如何讓所有人團結一心？如何改變世界？只要說一個好故事。人類天生就愛說故事。我們是說故事的動物，故事是社會的起源。但是，故事也具有一個長期被我們忽視的黑暗力量。近幾十年來，研究「說故事」的這一門科學逐漸興起，讓我們意識到「故事」既可以促進同情、理解、慈善、和平，但是也可以促進分裂、懷疑與仇恨。「說故事」就是隱性洗腦，它是人類生存不可或缺的毒藥，我們需要它，但又可能在不經意間被它損害。故事的力量就是激起情緒，而情緒是人類作出決定時的關鍵因素。說故事的人是「暗中的宣傳...