(no subject)
I have long wondered what exactly it is about humans that we love carnage. Why is it that w can watch over and over on YouTube, footage of a crocodile eating a wildebeest or a lion with an antelope? Why are we thrilled by grainy pictures of murder victims in the newspaper, and why to we rubberneck bad accidents on the highway? The fascination with gore is so prevalent that it has become a clicheé: like watching a train wreck. It is, from a purely rational point-of-view, a perverse hobby, and I have often wondered why it is as prevalent as it is.
And then I came across the following quote, which explains the whole thing from an evolutionary standpoint so simple I can't believe it didn't occur to me before:
"We're not just afraid of predators, we're transfixed by them, prone to weave stories and fables and chatter endlessly about them, because fascination creates preparedness, and preparedness, survival. In a deeply tribal sense, we love our monsters."
The author, E. O. Wilson, is specifically referring to sharks, but the premise holds true not only for all other predators, but for virtual every process, animate or inanimate, that brings about a bloody end. Some primitive instinct hardwired into our brain knows that the more we study that which might kill us, learn its strengths and weaknesses through careful observation, and share with others of our 'tribe', the more likely we, both as individuals and as a species, are likely to survive an encounter with it.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the scientific, evolutionary explanation for the popularity of horror movies and nature shows. So now, next time I'm watching scenes of death and destruction on YouTube and getting a thrill out of it, I can stop feeling guilty. After all, it's a survival mechanism.
And then I came across the following quote, which explains the whole thing from an evolutionary standpoint so simple I can't believe it didn't occur to me before:
"We're not just afraid of predators, we're transfixed by them, prone to weave stories and fables and chatter endlessly about them, because fascination creates preparedness, and preparedness, survival. In a deeply tribal sense, we love our monsters."
The author, E. O. Wilson, is specifically referring to sharks, but the premise holds true not only for all other predators, but for virtual every process, animate or inanimate, that brings about a bloody end. Some primitive instinct hardwired into our brain knows that the more we study that which might kill us, learn its strengths and weaknesses through careful observation, and share with others of our 'tribe', the more likely we, both as individuals and as a species, are likely to survive an encounter with it.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the scientific, evolutionary explanation for the popularity of horror movies and nature shows. So now, next time I'm watching scenes of death and destruction on YouTube and getting a thrill out of it, I can stop feeling guilty. After all, it's a survival mechanism.