Morbid Curiosity: Our Evolved Drive to Understand Danger

Resources

Resources & Recommendations

Books

• "The Descent of Man" by Charles Darwin (1871) - This book includes a story about monkeys being fascinated by a snake in a bag, which is used to illustrate a form of curiosity towards potential threats.
• "Morbidly Curious: A Scientist Explains Why We Can't Look Away" by Coltan Scrivner - This book explores the psychological reasons behind human fascination with dark and disturbing content.

Videos & Documentaries

• "Raiders of the Lost Ark" - An Indiana Jones movie mentioned by Coltan Scrivner as a childhood favorite, specifically for its violent or scary scenes.
• "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" - Another Indiana Jones movie recalled for its violent and scary scenes, such as the heart-pulling scene.
• "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" - The third Indiana Jones movie mentioned.
• "Contagion" (2011 movie) - A film about a global pandemic that surged in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic, illustrating people's interest in learning about threats through fictional narratives.
• "Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter" (1984 movie) - A horror film that garnered strong criticism from film critics like Roger Ebert, who expressed concern about its content and its audience.
• "Saw" (movie series) - A horror movie series that received a scathing review from a New York Post critic, who called its viewers "depraved lunatics."
• "Jaws" (movie) - A film about a killer shark that serves as an example of how horror films often focus on human reactions to a threat rather than the threat itself.

Research & Studies

• Study on entertainment choices after a murder at the University of Wisconsin (early 1970s) - Psychologists studied how students' entertainment choices shifted towards scary films (like Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood") after a murder on campus, especially for those closer to the victim's dorm.
• Study on the release of "Mortal Kombat" (early 1990s) - This accidental study compared the sales of two versions of the video game: a tamer Nintendo version and a gorier Sega Genesis version, finding that the more violent version significantly outsold the tamer one.
• Google Trends data on "Contagion" popularity (2019-2020) - Data showing a significant surge in search interest for the movie "Contagion" during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Research on horror fans and psychological resilience during COVID-19 pandemic - Coltan Scrivner's study found that horror fans were more resilient to the stresses of the pandemic and experienced less psychological distress.
• Research on horror fans' empathy - Coltan Scrivner's studies found no evidence that horror fans were less empathetic than non-horror fans; in some cases, those who enjoyed paranormal horror scored higher in cognitive empathy.
• "Snuggle theory of horror" - Early research on couples watching scary movies suggested that horror films provide an opportunity to fulfill cultural expectations of gender roles and emotional responses.

People Mentioned

• Lao Tzu (Chinese philosopher) - Credited with the quote: "Watch your thoughts; they become your words; watch your words; they become your actions; watch your actions; they become your habits; watch your habits; they become your character; watch your character; it becomes your destiny."
• Coltan Scrivner (Researcher at Arizona State University and Aarhus University) - A psychologist who studies why people consume certain stories and the effects these tales have on our minds; he is the author of "Morbidly Curious: A Scientist Explains Why We Can't Look Away."
• Shankar Vedantam (Host of Hidden Brain) - Host of the podcast.
• Truman Capote (Author) - His book "In Cold Blood" was made into a film that was part of a study on entertainment choices after a campus murder.
• Roger Ebert (Film critic) - Expressed outrage and sadness about the popularity of "Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter," criticizing both the film and its audience.
• Gene Siskel (Film critic) - Co-host with Roger Ebert, who suggested that people who enjoy violent films are "depraved" and "hate women."
• Ben Armstrong (Owner of Netherworld Haunted House) - Discussed the concept of "pleaders" in haunted attractions and how they activate empathy in visitors.

Organizations & Institutions

• Arizona State University - One of the institutions where Coltan Scrivner is a researcher.
• Aarhus University (Denmark) - One of the institutions where Coltan Scrivner is a researcher.
• University of Wisconsin - The campus where a murder occurred in the early 1970s, leading to a study on students' entertainment choices.
• Nintendo Entertainment Systems - A video game company that released a tamer version of "Mortal Kombat."
• Sega Genesis - A video game platform that released the gorier version of "Mortal Kombat," which outsold Nintendo's version.
• Warner Brothers - The studio that distributed the movie "Contagion."
• London Zoological Gardens - The location where Charles Darwin conducted an experiment with monkeys and a snake.
• New York Post - The publication whose film critic wrote a scathing review of the "Saw" movie series.
• Netherworld Haunted House (Georgia) - A well-known haunted attraction mentioned for its use of "pleaders."

Websites & Online Resources

• Reddit - Mentioned as a platform where horror fans share personal experiences about how horror helps them with anxiety.
• support.hiddenbrain.org - Website to try Hidden Brain Plus with a free 7-day trial.
• apple.co/hiddenbrain - Link for Apple users to try Hidden Brain Plus.
• ideas.hiddenbrain.org - Email address for listeners to share personal stories about interests in eerie or macabre content.
• feedback.hiddenbrain.org - Email address for listeners to share feedback, questions, or comments about morbid curiosity.
• givedirectly.org/hiddenbrain - Website for donating to the Pods Fight Poverty initiative to help villages in Rwanda.