The professor in the cage why men fight and why we like to watch

"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...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Gottschall, Jonathan (Author)
Format: Books Print Book
Language:English
Published: New York : Penguin Press, 2015.
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003 OCoLC
005 20160809095500.0
008 140919s2015 nyua b 001 0deng
010 |a  2014036665 
020 |a 9781594205637 (hbk.) 
020 |a 1594205639 (hbk.) 
035 |a (OCoLC)881888190 
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050 0 0 |a HQ1090  |b .G684 2015 
082 0 0 |a 155.2/32  |2 23 
100 1 |a Gottschall, Jonathan,  |e author. 
245 1 4 |a The professor in the cage :  |b why men fight and why we like to watch /  |c Jonathan Gottschall. 
264 1 |a New York :  |b Penguin Press,  |c 2015. 
300 |a 288 pages :  |b illustrations ;  |c 25 cm 
336 |a text  |b txt  |2 rdacontent 
337 |a unmediated  |b n  |2 rdamedia 
338 |a volume  |b nc  |2 rdacarrier 
520 |a "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 years: Why do men fight? And why do so many seemingly decent people like to watch? In The Professor in the Cage, Gottschall's unlikely journey from the college classroom to the fighting cage drives an important new investigation into the science and history of violence. Mixed martial arts is a full-contact hybrid sport in which fighters punch, choke, and kick each other into submission. MMA requires intense strength, endurance, and skill; the fights are bloody, brutal, and dangerous. Yet throughout the last decade, cage fighting has evolved from a small-time fringe spectacle banned in many states to the fastest-growing spectator sport in America. But the surging popularity of MMA, far from being new, is just one more example of our species' insatiable interest not just in violence but in the rituals that keep violence contained. From duels to football to the roughhousing of children, humans are masters of what Gottschall calls the monkey dance: a dizzying variety of rule-bound contests that establish hierarchies while minimizing risk and social disorder. In short, Gottschall entered the cage to learn about the violence in men, but learned instead how men keep violence in check. Gottschall endures extremes of pain, occasional humiliation, and the incredulity of his wife to take us into the heart of fighting culture -- culminating, after almost two years of grueling training, in his own cage fight. Gottschall's unsparing personal journey crystallizes in his epiphany, and ours, that taming male violence through ritualized combat has been a hidden key to the success of the human race. Without the restraining codes of the monkey dance, the world would be a much more chaotic and dangerous place."--From publisher's website. 
504 |a Includes bibliographical references (pages 263-277) and index. 
600 1 0 |a Gottschall, Jonathan. 
650 0 |a Violence in men. 
650 0 |a Hand-to-hand fighting. 
650 0 |a Mixed martial arts. 
650 0 |a Fighting (Psychology) 
650 0 |a Aggressiveness. 
650 0 |a Spectators  |x Psychology. 
938 |a Ingram  |b INGR  |n 9781594205637 
938 |a YBP Library Services  |b YANK  |n 11937076 
938 |a Baker and Taylor  |b BTCP  |n BK0015204526 
938 |a Brodart  |b BROD  |n 109781538 
994 |a C0  |b PCB 
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999 |a 370342