Self-Motivation
David Goggins
Former Navy Seal
Career Development
Bryan Cranston
Actor
Critical Thinking
Liv Boeree
International Poker Champion
Emotional Intelligence
Amaryllis Fox
Former CIA Clandestine Operative
Management
Chris Hadfield
Retired Canadian Astronaut & Author
Learn
from the world's big
thinkers
Start Learningfrom the world's big
thinkers
Engage Your Team Through Gaming, with Jane McGonigal
In this lesson excerpt from Big Think Edge, video game designer Jane McGonigal walks you through the ways in which gaming can lead to positive outcomes in the workplace. By the end of it, you may just want to integrate gaming into your break space design or your next corporate retreat!
Jane McGonigal
Jane McGonigal, PhD, is a senior researcher at the Institute for the Future and the author of The New York Times bestseller Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World. McGonigal's newest book is titled SuperBetter: A Revolutionary Approach to Getting Stronger, Happier, Braver and More Resilient--Powered by the Science of Games. Her work has been featured in The Economist, Wired, and The New York Times and on MTV, CNN, and NPR. She has been called one of the top ten innovators to watch (BusinessWeek), one of the one hundred most creative people in business (Fast Company), and one of the fifty most important people in the gaming industry (Game Developers Magazine). Her TED talks on games have been viewed more than ten million times.
Research shows that gaming can have positive social, emotional and psychological benefits.
Jane McGonigal: There’s been some fascinating research to suggest that when we play games and we tap into positive emotions like curiosity and optimism and creativity, and even love, that these emotions actually stay with us for up to 24 hours after we finish playing the game. So studies have shown that we’re more likely to cooperate with someone in our real lives after we’ve played a social game with them where we’re doing some kind of cooperative mission. Or we’re more likely to set an ambitious goal for ourselves after we’ve succeeded in a game. We’ll speak up more for ourselves. We’ll even flirt with more attractive strangers. So there’s this kind of transfer of our confidence, of our creativity, of our ambition to our real lives.
In this lesson excerpt from Big Think Edge, video game designer Jane McGonigal walks you through the ways in which gaming can lead to positive outcomes in the workplace. By the end of it, you may just want to integrate gaming into your break space design or your next corporate retreat!
Live tomorrow! Unfiltered lessons of a female entrepreneur
Join Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and best-selling author Charles Duhigg as he interviews Victoria Montgomery Brown, co-founder and CEO of Big Think, live at 1pm EDT tomorrow.
06 August, 2020
Big Think LIVE
Add event to your calendar
<p>
Women today are founding more businesses than ever. In 2018, they made up 40% of new entrepreneurs, yet in that same year, they received just 2.2% of all venture capital investment. The playing field is off-balance. So what can women do?
</p><p>
<strong>They can get candid with each other. </strong>In this Big Think Live session, <a href="https://youtu.be/vJNpOHQdSsg" target="_blank">Victoria Montgomery Brown</a>, co-founder and CEO of Big Think, and Charles Duhigg, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, will discuss entrepreneurship, decision-making, and leadership lessons from Victoria's new book, <a href="https://www.harpercollinsleadership.com/digital-goddess/#order?utm_source=bigthink&utm_medium=authorsite&utm_content=preorder&utm_campaign=digital-goddess-bigthink" target="_blank"><em>Digital Goddess</em>: <em>The Unfiltered Lessons of a Female Entrepreneur</em></a>. The book is a raw and real roadmap for any woman who has ever thought about striking out on her own, and will empower you to get meetings, raise money, and make hard choices—and never get so serious that you can't still have fun doing what you love.
</p><p>
<em>Ask your questions for Victoria Montgomery Brown during the live Q&A!</em>
</p><p>
<em>Join the live stream at 1pm EDT on Friday, 7 August.</em>
</p><h2>STREAMING LINKS</h2><p>
<strong><a href="https://edge.bigthink.com/live_streams/106" target="_self">Big Think Edge</a> | <a href="https://youtu.be/_jb0pM9FrZk" target="_blank">YouTube</a> | </strong><strong><a href="https://www.facebook.com/BigThinkdotcom/posts/10157549491758527" target="_blank">Facebook</a><a href="https://www.facebook.com/BigThinkdotcom/posts/10157549491758527" target="_blank"></a></strong><a href="https://www.facebook.com/BigThinkdotcom/posts/10157549491758527" target="_blank"></a>
</p><p>
--
</p><p>
<strong>Victoria Montgomery Brown</strong> has built and run <a href="http://www.bigthink.com/" target="_self">Big Think</a> for the last 12 years. It's become the leading digital media knowledge company, making people and companies smarter and faster with the world's best thinkers and doers. It wasn't a venture-funded tech darling, born and raised in a Silicon Valley incubator. It's a scrappy, creative, labor of love that was born in a New York City bar and raised in a rented closet in someone else's office. It's had to fight for its existence most of the time. Her new book is <a href="https://www.harpercollinsleadership.com/digital-goddess/#order?utm_source=bigthink&utm_medium=authorsite&utm_content=preorder&utm_campaign=digital-goddess-bigthink" target="_blank"><em>Digital Goddess</em>: <em>The Unfiltered Lessons of a Female Entrepreneur</em></a> (available for preorder).
</p><p>
Brown graduated from Montreal's McGill University in 1997 and received her MBA from Harvard Business School in 2003.
</p><p>
<strong>Charles Duhigg</strong> is a Pulitzer-prize winning reporter and the author of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0812983599?tag=bigthink00-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1" target="_blank"><em>Smarter Faster Better</em></a><em>,</em> about the science of productivity and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/081298160X?tag=bigthink00-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1" target="_blank"><em>The Power of Habit</em></a>, about the science of habit formation in our lives, companies and societies. Duhigg studied history at Yale, received an MBA from Harvard Business School, and was a reporter at <em>The New York Times</em> for a decade. Today, he is a leading writer on the nature of habits and productivity. He writes books and magazine articles for <em>The New York Times Magazine</em>, <em>The New Yorker</em> and <em>The Atlantic</em>.
</p><div class="rm-shortcode amazon-assets-widget" data-rm-shortcode-id="235cee081340897abf765d4cf877a093" contenteditable="false">
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1400220610?tag=bigthink00-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1" target="_blank">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51m2Nh4qmOL.jpg" class="amazon-assets-widget__image widget__image">
<div class="amazon-assets-widget__description">
<div class="amazon-assets-widget__title" style="display: block;">Digital Goddess: The Unfiltered Lessons of a Female Entrepreneur</div>
<div class="amazon-assets-widget__by-amazon"><!-- <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1400220610?tag=bigthink00-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1" target="_blank">by now at amazone</a> --></div>
<div class="amazon-assets-widget__list-price"><span class="grey">List Price: </span><span class="list-price">$27.99</span></div>
<div class="amazon-assets-widget__new-price"><span class="grey">New From: </span><span class="new-price">$27.99</span> <span class="grey">in Stock</span></div>
</div>
</a>
</div>
<p class="media-headline">
<br>
</p><div class="rm-shortcode amazon-assets-widget" data-rm-shortcode-id="51c80e7df1c81b3e4a70c13ea9f673f7" contenteditable="false">
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/081298160X?tag=bigthink00-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1" target="_blank">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/517FwF49v+L.jpg" class="amazon-assets-widget__image widget__image">
<div class="amazon-assets-widget__description">
<div class="amazon-assets-widget__title" style="display: block;">The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business</div>
<div class="amazon-assets-widget__by-amazon"><!-- <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/081298160X?tag=bigthink00-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1" target="_blank">by now at amazone</a> --></div>
<div class="amazon-assets-widget__list-price"><span class="grey">List Price: </span><span class="list-price">$13.64</span></div>
<div class="amazon-assets-widget__new-price"><span class="grey">New From: </span><span class="new-price">$10.45</span> <span class="grey">in Stock</span></div>
<div class="amazon-assets-widget__used-price"><span class="grey">Used From: </span><span class="used-price">$7.11</span> <span class="grey">in Stock</span></div>
</div>
</a>
</div>
Keep reading
Show less
Improving Olympic performance with asthma drugs?
A study looks at the performance benefits delivered by asthma drugs when they're taken by athletes who don't have asthma.
06 August, 2020
Image source: sumroeng chinnapan/Shutterstock
Culture & Religion
- One on hand, the most common health condition among Olympic athletes is asthma. On the other, asthmatic athletes regularly outperform their non-asthmatic counterparts.
- A new study assesses the performance-enhancement effects of asthma medication for non-asthmatics.
- The analysis looks at the effects of both allowed and banned asthma medications.
<p>The most common chronic disease among athletes competing in the Olympic Games is asthma. It's not a coincidence — asthma is a risk associated with activities that require increased ventilation, such as high-performance athletics. One treatment for the condition is the inhalation of <a href="https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=24664" target="_blank">β-agonists</a> prior to exercise as a means of warding off asthma symptoms. The drugs relax the airways that provide oxygen to the lungs.</p><p>But β-agonists pose a problem for World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) officials — drugs have been tied to performance enhancement. In fact, asthmatic athletes, who have a sound medical reason to use β-agonists, have consistently outperformed non-asthmatic athletes at the Games. There has been unconfirmed speculation that athletes who don't have asthma may also be taking β-agonists in hopes of gaining their own performance boost.</p><p>A new study published in <a href="https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2020/08/04/bjsports-2019-100708" target="_blank">British Journal of Sports Medicine</a> seeks to be the most comprehensive look yet at the effect of β-agonists on athletic performance, looking at a broad selection of β-agonist drugs, including medications both allowed and banned by the WADA.</p>
WADA uncertainty
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUzNzU0OS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxMDc4NjUwN30.fFTvRR0yJDLtFhaYiixh5Fa7NK1t1T4CzUM0Yh6KYiA/img.jpg?width=980" id="01b1b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2fd91a47d91e4d5083449b258a2fd63f" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="urine sample for drug test" />Image source: joel bubble ben/Shutterstock
<p>When inhaled β-agonists first came out just before the 1972 Olympics, they were immediately banned altogether by the WADA as possible doping substances. Over the years, the WADA has reexamined their use and refined the organization's stance, evidence of the thorniness of finding an equitable position regarding their use. As of January 2020, only three β-agonists are allowed — salbutamol, formoterol, and salmeterol —and only in inhaled form. Oral consumption appears to have a greater effect on performance.</p>The study
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUzNzU0Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MTIzMDQyMX0.Gk4v-7PCA7NohvJjw12L15p7SumPCY0tLdsSlMrLlGs/img.jpg?width=980" id="d3141" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ebe7b30a315aeffcb4fe739095cf0767" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="runner at starting position on track" />Image source: MinDof/Shutterstock
<p>Of primary interest to the authors of the study is confirming and measuring the performance improvement to be gained from β-agonists when they're ingested by athletes who don't have asthma.</p><p>The researchers performed a meta-analysis of 34 existing studies documenting 44 randomized trials reporting on 472 participants. The pool of individuals included was broad, encompassing both untrained and elite athletes. In addition, lab tests, as opposed to actual competitions, tracked performance. The authors of the study therefore recommend taking its conclusions with just a grain of salt.</p><p>The effects of both WADA-banned and approved β-agonists were assessed.</p>Approved β-agonists and non-asthmatic athletes
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUzNzU1MC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxMzkxODk0M30.3RssFwk_tWkHRkEl_tIee02rdq2tLuAePifnngqcIr8/img.jpg?width=980" id="39a99" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b1fe4a580c6d4f8a0fd021d7d6570e2a" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="vaulter clearing pole" />Image source: Andrey Yurlov/Shutterstock
<p>What the meta-analysis showed is that the currently approved β-agonists didn't significantly improve athletic performance among those without asthma — what very slight benefit they <em>may</em> produce is just enough to prompt the study's authors to write that "it is still uncertain whether approved doses improve anaerobic performance." They note that the tiny effect did increase slightly over multiple weeks of β-agonist intake.</p>Banned β-agonist and non-asthmatic athletes
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUzNzU1Mi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNjI3ODU5Mn0.vyoxSE5EYjPGc2ZEbBN8d5F79nSEIiC6TUzTt0ycVqc/img.jpg?width=980" id="de095" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="02fdd42dfda8e3665a7b547bb88007ef" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="swimmer mid stroke" />Image source: Nejron Photo/Shutterstock
<p>The study found that for athletes without asthma, however, the use of currently banned β-agonists did indeed result in enhanced performance. The authors write, "Our meta-analysis shows that β2-agonists improve anaerobic performance by 5%, an improvement that would change the outcome of most athletic competitions."</p><p>That 5 percent is an average: 70-meter sprint performance was improved by 3 percent, while strength performance, MVC (maximal voluntary contraction), was improved by 6 percent.</p><p>The analysis also revealed that different results were produced by different methods of ingestion. The percentages cited above were seen when a β-agonist was ingested orally. The effect was less pronounced when the banned substances were inhaled.</p><p>Given the difference between the results for allowed and banned β-agonists, the study's conclusions suggest that the WADA has it about right, at least in terms of selection of allowable β-agonists, as well as the allowable dosage method.</p>Takeaway
<p>The study, say its authors, "should be of interest to WADA and anyone who is interested in equal opportunities in competitive sports." Its results clearly support vigilance, with the report concluding: "The use of β2-agonists in athletes should be regulated and limited to those with an asthma diagnosis documented with objective tests."</p>
Keep reading
Show less
Weird science shows unseemly way beetles escape after being eaten
Certain water beetles can escape from frogs after being consumed.
06 August, 2020
Surprising Science
- A Japanese scientist shows that some beetles can wiggle out of frog's butts after being eaten whole.
- The research suggests the beetle can get out in as little as 7 minutes.
- Most of the beetles swallowed in the experiment survived with no complications after being excreted.
<p>In what is perhaps one of the weirdest experiments ever that comes from the category of "why did anyone need to know this?" scientists have proven that the <span style="background-color: initial;"><em>Regimbartia attenuata</em> </span><span style="background-color: initial;">beetle can climb out of a frog's butt after being eaten.</span></p><p>The research was carried out by Kobe University ecologist Shinji Sugiura. His team found that the majority of beetles swallowed by black-spotted pond frogs (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelophylax_nigromaculatus" target="_blank">Pelophylax nigromaculatus</a>) used in their experiment managed to escape about 6 hours after and were perfectly fine.</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"Here, I report active escape of the aquatic beetle R. attenuata from the vents of five frog species via the digestive tract," writes Sugiura in a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2020.06.026" target="_blank">new paper</a>, adding "although adult beetles were easily eaten by frogs, 90 percent of swallowed beetles were excreted within six hours after being eaten and, surprisingly, were still alive."</p>
<p>One bug even got out in as little as 7 minutes.<br></p><p>Sugiura also tried putting wax on the legs of some of the beetles, preventing them from moving. These ones were not able to make it out alive, taking from 38 to 150 hours to be digested.</p><p>Naturally, as anyone would upon encountering such a story, you're wondering where's the video. Thankfully, the scientists recorded the proceedings:</p>
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="27c9ecbbaa9bdfce86f00d817bfaddd1"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qbefo_vUzog?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<p>The Regimbartia attenuata beetle can be found in the tropics, especially as pests in fish hatcheries. It's not the only kind of creature that can survive being swallowed. A <a href="https://www.livescience.com/snake-eels-stomach-bursters.html" target="_blank">recent study</a> showed that snake eels are able to burrow out of the stomachs of fish using their sharp tails, only to become stuck, die, and be mummified in the gut cavity. Scientists are calling the beetle's ability the first documented "active prey escape." Usually, such travelers through the digestive tract have particular adaptations that make it possible for them to withstand extreme pH and lack of oxygen. The researchers think the beetle's trick is in inducing the frog to open a so-called "vent" controlled by the sphincter muscle. <span style="background-color: initial;"></span></p><p style="margin-left: 20px;"><span style="background-color: initial;"></span>"Individuals were always excreted head first from the frog vent, suggesting that R. attenuata stimulates the hind gut, urging the frog to defecate," <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(20)30842-3" target="_blank">explains</a> Sugiura.</p><p>For more information, check out the study published in <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(20)30842-3" target="_blank">Current Biology.</a></p>
Keep reading
Show less
Two MIT students just solved Richard Feynman’s famed physics puzzle
Richard Feynman once asked a silly question. Two MIT students just answered it.
18 August, 2018
Surprising Science
Here's a fun experiment to try. Go to your pantry and see if you have a box of spaghetti. If you do, take out a noodle. Grab both ends of it and bend it until it breaks in half. How many pieces did it break into? If you got two large pieces and at least one small piece you're not alone.
<p>
<br/>
</p>
<div class="video-full-card-placeholder" data-slug="physics-in-the-days-of-einstein-and-feynman" style="border: 1px solid #ccc;">
<br/>
</div>
<p><a href="http://www.richardfeynman.com/" target="_blank">Richard Feynman</a>, world-class physicist, bongo player, and <a href="https://bigthink.com/scotty-hendricks/the-most-beautiful-letter-richard-feynman-ever-wrote" target="_self">writer of letters</a>, once spent an evening trying to break spaghetti into two pieces by bending it at both ends. After hours spent in the kitchen and a great deal of pasta having been wasted, he and his friend Danny Hillis admitted defeat. Even worse, they had no solution for why the spaghetti always broke into at least three pieces.</p>
But science loves a good challenge
<p>The mystery remained unsolved until 2005, when French scientists <a href="http://www.lmm.jussieu.fr/~audoly/" target="_blank">Basile Audoly</a> and <a href="http://www.lmm.jussieu.fr/~neukirch/" target="_blank">Sebastien Neukirch </a>won an <a href="https://www.improbable.com/ig/" target="_blank">Ig Nobel Prize</a>, an award given to scientists for real work which is of a less serious nature than the discoveries that win Nobel prizes, for finally determining why this happens. <a href="http://www.lmm.jussieu.fr/spaghetti/audoly_neukirch_fragmentation.pdf" target="_blank">Their paper describing the effect is wonderfully funny to read</a>, as it takes such a banal issue so seriously. </p><p>They demonstrated that when a rod is bent past a certain point, such as when spaghetti is snapped in half by bending it at the ends, a "snapback effect" is created. This causes energy to reverberate from the initial break to other parts of the rod, often leading to a second break elsewhere.</p><p>While this settled the issue of <em>why </em>spaghetti noodles break into three or more pieces, it didn't establish if they always had to break this way. The question of if the snapback could be regulated remained unsettled.</p>Physicists, being themselves, immediately wanted to try and break pasta into two pieces using this info
<p><a href="https://roheiss.wordpress.com/fun/" target="_blank">Ronald Heisser</a> and <a href="https://math.mit.edu/directory/profile.php?pid=1787" target="_blank">Vishal Patil</a>, two graduate students currently at Cornell and MIT respectively, read about Feynman's night of noodle snapping in class and were inspired to try and find what could be done to make sure the pasta always broke in two.</p><p><a href="http://news.mit.edu/2018/mit-mathematicians-solve-age-old-spaghetti-mystery-0813" target="_blank">By placing the noodles in a special machine</a> built for the task and recording the bending with a high-powered camera, the young scientists were able to observe in extreme detail exactly what each change in their snapping method did to the pasta. After breaking more than 500 noodles, they found the solution.</p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTkzMzQwNS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwMDIzMjM4Mn0.GYLgsHzcmoUjl5s1POC7bkrSTj0XoZVeIplBle8px0Y/img.jpg?width=980" id="084aa" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c9ccab5f42488079e9a069f1d4308c7e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
The apparatus the MIT researchers built specifically for the task of snapping hundreds of spaghetti sticks.
(Courtesy of the researchers)
<p>The spaghetti will break into two pieces if the snapback is properly dispersed through the noodle by twisting it while it is bent. The twist must be rather severe though, nearly 360°. The two ends of the noodle must then be bought together very slowly.</p><p>The twisting adds another wave of energy to the snapback, one which tends to make the noodle straighten out again. When both waves are going through the noodle at the same time, the most intense pressure on the noddle is reduced and the second fracture is prevented.</p><p>The results hold true for spaghetti noodles of different diameters, though the scientists note that other pasta noodles might act differently. Having solved the problem of how to properly break spaghetti, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/08/16/this-spaghetti-breaking-problem-stumped-physicist-richard-feynman-two-mit-students-have-now-solved-it/?utm_term=.de16c87b3c85" target="_blank">they plan to focus on linguine next.</a></p>
What possible application could this have?
<p>The snapback effect is not limited to uncooked pasta noodles and can be applied to rods of all sorts. The discovery of how to cleanly break them in two could be applied to future engineering projects.</p><p>Likewise, knowing how things fragment and fail is always handy to know when you're trying to build things. Carbon Nanotubes, <a href="https://bigthink.com/ideafeed/carbon-nanotube-space-elevator" target="_self">super strong cylinders often hailed as the building material of the future</a>, are also rods which can be better understood thanks to this odd experiment.</p><p>Sometimes big discoveries can be inspired by silly questions. If it hadn't been for Richard Feynman bending noodles seventy years ago, we wouldn't know what we know now about how energy is dispersed through rods and how to control their fracturing. While not all silly questions will lead to such a significant discovery, they can all help us learn.</p>
Keep reading
Show less
Why are we fascinated by true crime stories?
Several experts have weighed in on our sometimes morbid curiosity and fascination with true crime.
06 August, 2020
Photo by Victoria Heath on Unsplash
Mind & Brain
- True crime podcasts can get as many as 500,000 downloads per month. In the Top 100 Podcasts of 2020 list for Apple, several true crime podcasts ranked within the Top 20.
- Our fascination with true crime isn't just limited to podcasts, with Netflix documentaries like "Confessions of a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes" scoring high popularity with viewers.
- Several experts weigh in on our fascination with these stories with theories including fear-based adrenaline rushes and the inherent need to understand the human mind.
<p>From Netflix documentaries about notorious serial killers to dramatized TV shows with murders who have a certain charismatic appeal, many of us have some kind of fascination with true crime stories. Even beyond television, true crime books and podcasts are extremely popular. In fact, the "<a href="https://wineandcrimepodcast.com/" target="_blank">Wine and Crime</a>" podcast gets around 500,000 downloads per month, with around 85 percent of those people being <a href="https://sofiagray.com/why-are-people-attracted-to-serial-killers/" target="_blank">female</a>.</p><p>In the "<a href="https://www.podcastinsights.com/top-us-podcasts/" target="_blank">Top 100 Podcasts</a>" list for Apple US, we see "<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/crime-junkie/id1322200189?at=1000ltXT" target="_blank">Crime Junkie</a>" in at number 3, "<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/my-favorite-murder-karen-kilgariff-georgia-hardstark/id1074507850?at=1000ltXT" target="_blank">My Favorite Murder</a>" in at number 6, and "<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/morbid-a-true-crime-podcast/id1379959217" target="_blank">Morbid: A True Crime Podcast</a>" at number 15. </p><p>Why do we love true crime stories?</p>
Why are we fascinated with true crime stories?
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUzODA1MC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MzkwOTAzOX0.7WqeWaf-odtEJV5XB2jdEG1uPU5d6Uaujw6iy6MKMbw/img.jpg?width=1245&coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C0&height=700" id="d99fc" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e14d547e4d386925bad470882a823333" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="woman standing in front of crime scene notes" />Several experts and psychologists weigh in on why we could be so fascinated by violence, destruction and true crime stories...
Photo by Motortion Films on Shutterstock
<p>Several experts have weighed in on this topic over the years, as the spike in popularity of true crime media has continued at an astonishing rate.</p><p><strong>Psychopaths are charismatic.</strong> </p><p>One of the <a href="https://www.scienceofpeople.com/psychopath/#:~:text=Psychopathy%20researchers%20found%20that%20psychopaths,defer%20gratification%20and%20control%20behavior" target="_blank">defining qualities of a psychopath</a> is that they have "superficial charm and glibness", which could explain part of our fascination with podcasts, TV shows, and movies that cover the lives of famous serial killers like Ted Bundy.</p><p><strong>Our psychology demands we pay attention to things that could harm us.</strong></p><p>Psychology can play a large role in why we like what we like, and our fascination with true crime stories is no exception. When it comes to potential threats or things that could be threatening to humanity, perhaps we've been conditioned to pay those things extra attention. </p><p>According to Dr. John Mayer, a clinical psychologist at <a href="http://www.doctorondemand.com/" target="_blank">Doctor on Demand</a> who spoke about the process <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/better/health/science-behind-why-we-can-t-look-away-disasters-ncna804966" target="_blank">in an interview with NBC News</a>, seeing destruction, disaster, or tragedy actually triggers survival instincts in us. </p><p>"A disaster enters into our awareness - this can be from a live source such as driving by a traffic accident or from watching a news report about a hurricane, a plane crash or any disaster," Mayer said. "This data from our perceptual system then stimulates the amygdala (the part of the brain responsible for emotions, survival tactics and memory). The amygdala then sends signals to the regions of the frontal cortex that are involved in analyzing and interpreting data. Next, the brain evaluates whether this data (awareness of the disaster) is a threat to you, thus judgment gets involved. As a result, the 'fight or flight' response is evoked." </p><p><strong>Could it just be morbid curiosity? </strong></p><p>Dr. Katherine Ramsland, Ph.D., a professor at De Sales University, explained <a href="https://www.bustle.com/p/why-are-people-so-obsessed-with-true-crime-experts-reveal-the-evolutionary-reasons-why-18138062" target="_blank">in an interview with Bustle</a>:</p><p>"Part of our love of true crime is based on something very natural: curiosity. People reading or watching a true crime story are engaged on several levels. They are curious about who would do this, they want to know the psychology of the bad guy, girl, or team. They want to know something about the abhorrent mind. They also love the puzzle - figuring out how it was done." </p><p><strong>Perhaps it's a way of facing our fears and planning our own reactions without risking immediate harm. </strong></p><p>In an interview with NBC News, psychiatrist Dr. David Henderson suggested that we may be fascinated with violence, destruction, or crime as a way of assessing how we would handle ourselves if put into that situation:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;"><em>"Witnessing violence and destruction, whether it is in a novel, a movie, on TV or a real life scene playing out in front of us in real time, gives us the opportunity to confront our fears of death, pain, despair, degradation and annihilation while still feeling some level of safety. This sensation is sometimes experienced when we stand at the edge of the Grand Canyon or look through the glass at a ferocious lion at the zoo. We watch because we are allowed to ask ourselves ultimate questions with an intensity of emotion that is uncoupled from the true reality of the disaster: 'If I was in that situation, what would I do? How would I respond? Would I be the hero or the villain? Could I endure the pain? Would I have the strength to recover?' We play out the different scenarios in our head because it helps us to reconcile that which is uncontrollable with our need to remain in control."</em></p><p><strong>Psychologically, negative events activate our brains more than positive events. </strong></p><p><a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2F0033-2909.134.3.383" target="_blank">A 2008 study</a> published by the American Psychological Association found that humans react to and learn more from negative experiences than we do positive ones. The term "negative bias" is the tendency to automatically give more attention (and meaning) to negative events and information more than positive events or information. </p><p><strong>A forced perspective may trigger empathy and act as a coping mechanism. </strong></p><p>Viewing destruction (or listening to/watching true crime stories) could be beneficial. According to Dr. Mayer, "the healthy mechanism of watching disasters is that it is a coping mechanism. We can become incubated emotionally by watching disasters and this helps us cope with hardships in our lives…" <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/better/health/science-behind-why-we-can-t-look-away-disasters-ncna804966" target="_blank">Dr. Stephen Rosenburg points out</a>, however, that this empathetic response can also have a negative impact. "Being human and having empathy can make us feel worried or depressed."</p><p>Dr. Rosenberg goes on to explain that this can also impact the negativity bias. "We tend to think negatively to protect ourselves from the reality. If it turns out better, we're relieved. If it turns out worse, we're prepared." </p><p><strong>Perhaps the adrenaline of fear that comes from listening to or watching true crime can become addicting. </strong></p><p>Similarly to how people get a "runners high" from exercise or feel depressed when they have missed a scheduled run, the adrenaline that pumps during our consumption of true crime stories <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/science-choice/201508/can-you-be-addicted-adrenaline" target="_blank">can become addictive</a>. According to sociology and criminology professor Scott Bonn, <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/wicked-deeds/201605/the-delightful-guilty-pleasure-watching-true-crime-tv" target="_blank">in an interview with Psychology Today</a>: "The public is drawn to these stories because they trigger the most basic and powerful emotion in us all: fear."</p>
Keep reading
Show less
Popular
