1 00:00:00,520 --> 00:00:03,840 Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff from how Stuff works dot com where 2 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:15,080 Speaker 1: smart Happens. Hi Am Marshall Brain with today's question, what 3 00:00:15,480 --> 00:00:20,119 Speaker 1: is schadenfreude? Schadenfreude is one of those words that you 4 00:00:20,239 --> 00:00:23,400 Speaker 1: hear about once a month, and because it's a German 5 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:25,720 Speaker 1: word and it sounds kind of funny, you may be 6 00:00:25,840 --> 00:00:29,080 Speaker 1: wondering what it actually means and how it made its 7 00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:31,920 Speaker 1: way into the English language. If you look the word 8 00:00:31,960 --> 00:00:35,400 Speaker 1: up in the dictionary, the definition goes like this, It's 9 00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:40,400 Speaker 1: satisfaction or pleasure felt at someone else's misfortune. There are 10 00:00:40,440 --> 00:00:44,360 Speaker 1: lots of examples of schadenfreude on the web, in particular. 11 00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:48,760 Speaker 1: For example, the popular site fail blog is one way 12 00:00:48,760 --> 00:00:52,760 Speaker 1: of experiencing schadenfreude. You get to see other people have 13 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:57,120 Speaker 1: accidents or other kinds of failures, and apparently this is 14 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:00,800 Speaker 1: incredibly popular because it's one of the most subscribe to 15 00:01:00,920 --> 00:01:04,800 Speaker 1: and watch channels on YouTube. Chan Freuda is different from 16 00:01:04,920 --> 00:01:08,880 Speaker 1: sadistic pleasure, where the person is actually causing the misfortune 17 00:01:08,959 --> 00:01:13,760 Speaker 1: through cruelty. Sadism is defined as any enjoyment in being cruel. 18 00:01:14,360 --> 00:01:19,080 Speaker 1: The person experiencing schadenfreuda plays no role in causing the misfortune. 19 00:01:19,360 --> 00:01:23,319 Speaker 1: He she is simply the observer. The alternative to schadenfreuda, 20 00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:26,720 Speaker 1: of course, would be compassion, which is defined as a 21 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:30,680 Speaker 1: feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who's stricken 22 00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:35,040 Speaker 1: by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering. 23 00:01:35,319 --> 00:01:38,639 Speaker 1: So why do we get pleasure out of another person's pain? 24 00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:42,520 Speaker 1: Scientific American recently took a look at the whole phenomenon 25 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:46,000 Speaker 1: of schadenfreude, and it seems like it's wired into the 26 00:01:46,080 --> 00:01:49,360 Speaker 1: human brain through the reward center. In the article that 27 00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:54,720 Speaker 1: Scientific American wrote, they say scientists who study schadenfreuda are 28 00:01:54,800 --> 00:01:58,920 Speaker 1: learning that this secret happiness that another person's loss has 29 00:01:59,040 --> 00:02:02,880 Speaker 1: biological or pinnings. The feeling registers in the brain as 30 00:02:02,920 --> 00:02:06,840 Speaker 1: a distinct form of pleasure, a satisfaction comparable to that 31 00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:10,080 Speaker 1: of eating a good meal. Schan Freuda does not seem 32 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:13,600 Speaker 1: to be a particularly endearing feature of the human brain. 33 00:02:14,040 --> 00:02:17,840 Speaker 1: The article spirals downward from there, pointing out that people 34 00:02:17,880 --> 00:02:22,000 Speaker 1: in political parties can as a group, experience glee when 35 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:25,680 Speaker 1: bad things happen to the opposition party or can be 36 00:02:25,880 --> 00:02:29,560 Speaker 1: pinned onto the other party. People group by race can 37 00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:33,600 Speaker 1: use schadenfreude to encourage prejudice against people of other races, 38 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:38,240 Speaker 1: and in some cases, schadenfreude can morph into sadism. If 39 00:02:38,280 --> 00:02:41,880 Speaker 1: you feel good at another's misfortune, why not cause more 40 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:45,359 Speaker 1: misfortune for them yourself? What can you do to avoid 41 00:02:45,400 --> 00:02:50,400 Speaker 1: this process? The article suggests recognizing schadenfreud as it happens, 42 00:02:50,440 --> 00:02:53,760 Speaker 1: perhaps even discussing it and its effects with others, in 43 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:58,639 Speaker 1: order to inoculate yourself against the more deleterious effects if 44 00:02:58,639 --> 00:03:01,920 Speaker 1: it were to escalate. As the article puts it, this 45 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:06,239 Speaker 1: may help to avoid a slippery slope towards sadism, or 46 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:10,239 Speaker 1: you could work the other angle. Ramp up compassion when 47 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:15,239 Speaker 1: you feel schadenfreud is starting to take effect. 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