1 00:00:01,800 --> 00:00:06,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio. Hey 2 00:00:06,840 --> 00:00:10,080 Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren Vogelbaum here with another classic episode from 3 00:00:10,119 --> 00:00:13,280 Speaker 1: our archives. I wanted to air this one because we 4 00:00:13,360 --> 00:00:16,360 Speaker 1: are dead in the midst of spooky season, though I 5 00:00:16,520 --> 00:00:19,680 Speaker 1: personally believe every season should be at least a little spooky, 6 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:23,319 Speaker 1: and so that got me thinking again about why lots 7 00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:28,840 Speaker 1: of us love being scared. Hey brain Stuff, Lauren vogel 8 00:00:28,840 --> 00:00:32,240 Speaker 1: Bam Here on the menu of what's scary these days, 9 00:00:32,320 --> 00:00:35,800 Speaker 1: there are many threats to choose, from mass shootings and 10 00:00:35,960 --> 00:00:41,639 Speaker 1: uncertain political and economic future, nuclear war, spiders, so it 11 00:00:41,680 --> 00:00:46,200 Speaker 1: begs the question why would anyone want more? Why do people, 12 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:48,879 Speaker 1: in fact pay money to be scared when there's already 13 00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:52,720 Speaker 1: enough frightening stuff served up daily. But that's exactly what 14 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:56,480 Speaker 1: tons of people do. We Horror fans seek out horror movies, 15 00:00:56,520 --> 00:01:00,240 Speaker 1: scary books, and haunted houses. We pay to consume year, 16 00:01:00,760 --> 00:01:05,240 Speaker 1: and selling fear is an increasingly profitable pursuit. For instance, 17 00:01:05,280 --> 00:01:08,720 Speaker 1: the number of horror movies released in nineteen six only 18 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:14,080 Speaker 1: seven sixty two. The top twenty five horror films of 19 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:18,080 Speaker 1: twenty seventeen, including Stephen King's It Sold, combined a hundred 20 00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:21,120 Speaker 1: and forty million tickets and grossed more than nine hundred 21 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:25,119 Speaker 1: and twenty million dollars. But this is nothing new. Since 22 00:01:25,240 --> 00:01:28,080 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty, horror movies have taken more than twenty four 23 00:01:28,200 --> 00:01:31,319 Speaker 1: billion dollars of our hard earned money at the box office, 24 00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:36,280 Speaker 1: adjusting for inflation. It's a big business antony haunted house industry, 25 00:01:36,440 --> 00:01:39,080 Speaker 1: and yes we can call it an industry now is 26 00:01:39,120 --> 00:01:42,560 Speaker 1: also capitalizing. It grossed more than three hundred million dollars 27 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:46,880 Speaker 1: in amusement parks another place to find heart racing attractions 28 00:01:46,880 --> 00:01:50,160 Speaker 1: that scare so many annually serve three hundred and seventy 29 00:01:50,160 --> 00:01:54,560 Speaker 1: five million people in North America alone. Of course, this 30 00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:57,440 Speaker 1: brand of fear served up by horror flicks, thrill rides, 31 00:01:57,480 --> 00:02:00,559 Speaker 1: and even haunted houses is a specific and in fact 32 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:03,760 Speaker 1: different form of fear than what someone feels or deals 33 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:07,320 Speaker 1: with if they're mugged or chased by wild boars. And 34 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:10,200 Speaker 1: that is where we can find the answer to today's question, 35 00:02:10,720 --> 00:02:14,240 Speaker 1: why do we do this to ourselves? First, it's important 36 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:17,160 Speaker 1: to know that there is a competing overload of various 37 00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:21,840 Speaker 1: definitions and associated nuances of fear. Lots of people study it, 38 00:02:22,240 --> 00:02:25,200 Speaker 1: lots of people have opinions We'll break it down into 39 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:30,359 Speaker 1: two simple types, capital A anxiety and capital f fear. 40 00:02:31,400 --> 00:02:34,160 Speaker 1: Anxiety is what keeps us up at night. It's often 41 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:40,360 Speaker 1: experienced as dread, worry, uncertainty, nervousness, apprehension, and specifically, it 42 00:02:40,440 --> 00:02:44,000 Speaker 1: focuses the mind on possible future events that might happen 43 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:48,079 Speaker 1: but have not happened yet, anything from nuclear war or 44 00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:50,800 Speaker 1: the end of democracy, to the injury or death of 45 00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:54,400 Speaker 1: loved ones, a terrible break up, the loss of finances, ETCETERA. 46 00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:59,360 Speaker 1: Fear that is fright, horror, terror, or panic is the 47 00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:03,680 Speaker 1: much more straightforward frenemy. It derives from what is right 48 00:03:03,680 --> 00:03:06,160 Speaker 1: in front of us, right now, an immediate threat to 49 00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:08,480 Speaker 1: our safety. This could be standing in front of a 50 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:12,000 Speaker 1: crowd for a speech, an unfriendly dog running straight for us, 51 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:15,400 Speaker 1: or that moment when we accidentally walk through a spider web. 52 00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:19,919 Speaker 1: Not anxiety about that possibly happening, but that actually happening. 53 00:03:20,320 --> 00:03:24,840 Speaker 1: It causes significant near instantaneous fight or flight biological changes 54 00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:29,040 Speaker 1: in us. But further, in attempting to understand why someone 55 00:03:29,080 --> 00:03:31,960 Speaker 1: would want to experience something like fear, we also need 56 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:35,440 Speaker 1: to acknowledge that it contains a subcategory which brings about 57 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:40,800 Speaker 1: similar symptoms but with mostly enjoyable outcomes. Margie Key is 58 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:43,440 Speaker 1: a sociologist who studies fear and the author of the 59 00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:47,440 Speaker 1: books Scream. She and her colleague Greg Seagal, PhD, the 60 00:03:47,560 --> 00:03:51,240 Speaker 1: director for the Cognitive Neuroscience Program at the University of Pittsburgh, 61 00:03:51,440 --> 00:03:55,280 Speaker 1: have come up with an academic description for this subcategory, 62 00:03:55,560 --> 00:04:00,760 Speaker 1: voluntary engagement with negative high arousal stimuli, or in other words, 63 00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:04,360 Speaker 1: going to a scary movie or haunted house and while 64 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:07,560 Speaker 1: allowing ourselves to feel the biological thrills of being scared. 65 00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:10,520 Speaker 1: As part of this, the overall experience can lead to 66 00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:13,320 Speaker 1: deeper meaning in our lives. In some cases, it can 67 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:17,920 Speaker 1: even provide some therapeutic value for those experiencing anxiety. Care 68 00:04:17,960 --> 00:04:21,280 Speaker 1: says that experiencing fun scary can give us a sense 69 00:04:21,320 --> 00:04:24,719 Speaker 1: of mastery over it that can feel very gratifying. Here's 70 00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:26,560 Speaker 1: a chance to feel like we've got it all within 71 00:04:26,600 --> 00:04:31,279 Speaker 1: our control. Here's how it works. Step one, we choose 72 00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:35,480 Speaker 1: to experience a scary activity. This step perhaps the most important, 73 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:40,239 Speaker 1: frames our entire experience. By exhibiting agency to face something scary, 74 00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:43,080 Speaker 1: we're acknowledging that we are in control of it. We 75 00:04:43,160 --> 00:04:46,000 Speaker 1: also realize the safety inherent in this that if we 76 00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:49,000 Speaker 1: walk into a haunted house, we're not going to be murdered, 77 00:04:49,400 --> 00:04:55,520 Speaker 1: not really right. Step two, something unexpected startles or unsettles us, 78 00:04:56,040 --> 00:04:58,719 Speaker 1: like in The Blair Witch Project when someone is standing 79 00:04:58,720 --> 00:05:02,000 Speaker 1: in a very dark corner, or The Shining when ghostly 80 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:05,000 Speaker 1: twins demand that we come play with them forever end ever, 81 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:08,599 Speaker 1: or in any number of slasher flicks when the protagonist 82 00:05:08,640 --> 00:05:11,720 Speaker 1: realizes that the killer's calls are coming from inside the house. 83 00:05:12,320 --> 00:05:14,920 Speaker 1: The original reference to that maybe when a stranger calls 84 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:18,760 Speaker 1: by the way, good trivia. At any rate, we're on edge, 85 00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:22,560 Speaker 1: which brings us two. Step three, we experience fight or flight. 86 00:05:23,200 --> 00:05:26,200 Speaker 1: Danger stimuli is received by our brain and our sympathetic 87 00:05:26,240 --> 00:05:29,120 Speaker 1: nervous system kicks into gear. This is what kept the 88 00:05:29,120 --> 00:05:32,640 Speaker 1: Cave people away from sabertoothed lions. Our bodies are flooded 89 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:36,679 Speaker 1: with adrenaline, dopamine, oxytacin, and endorphins. Our heart rate, blood 90 00:05:36,680 --> 00:05:39,720 Speaker 1: pressure in breathing increase, We sweat, we get goose bumps. 91 00:05:39,880 --> 00:05:43,600 Speaker 1: In some cases, we may scream, involuntarily, jump or run 92 00:05:43,640 --> 00:05:47,919 Speaker 1: for the hills. Don't worry, it's all completely natural. Care says. 93 00:05:48,320 --> 00:05:50,800 Speaker 1: This is the pedal to the metal and all systems go, 94 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:54,520 Speaker 1: but in a safe environment, one in which we choose 95 00:05:54,560 --> 00:05:57,040 Speaker 1: to experience. It's important to note that this is much 96 00:05:57,080 --> 00:06:00,240 Speaker 1: different than facing real danger, and that's what makes it fun. 97 00:06:00,800 --> 00:06:04,200 Speaker 1: Care said, even deciding to do scary, this is the 98 00:06:04,279 --> 00:06:07,560 Speaker 1: protective frame we've created for ourselves. In our mind. We 99 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:10,560 Speaker 1: are being open to engage with this material and suspend 100 00:06:10,640 --> 00:06:14,080 Speaker 1: our disbelief. It creates a different experience than if we were, say, 101 00:06:14,160 --> 00:06:17,120 Speaker 1: mugged at random. Our framing of the situation is then 102 00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:20,040 Speaker 1: going to be with that. In the context, screams mean 103 00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:23,679 Speaker 1: fun and not fear, which leads us to step four. 104 00:06:24,279 --> 00:06:28,679 Speaker 1: We experience satisfaction on a biological level. Our parasympathetic nervous 105 00:06:28,680 --> 00:06:31,479 Speaker 1: system kicks in and it brings everything back down to 106 00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:35,640 Speaker 1: normal heart rate, breathing, blood pressure, sweating, and that urge 107 00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:39,280 Speaker 1: to run far, far away. Care said, this can feel 108 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:42,880 Speaker 1: very relaxing. It's the rest and digest period. We're safe. 109 00:06:43,080 --> 00:06:45,920 Speaker 1: We can sit with that and reap the benefits. So 110 00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:50,039 Speaker 1: step five. Those benefits we share in the experience and 111 00:06:50,080 --> 00:06:53,760 Speaker 1: build relationships. Care said of hunted house, horror movie and 112 00:06:53,880 --> 00:06:57,480 Speaker 1: roller coaster excursions. These experiences are often linked with friends 113 00:06:57,520 --> 00:07:00,880 Speaker 1: and family. We attend with them, were building strong bonds 114 00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:04,160 Speaker 1: and a shared camaraderie that in itself can be really gratifying. 115 00:07:04,480 --> 00:07:07,920 Speaker 1: It's the stuff that nostalgia is built from. So why 116 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:11,440 Speaker 1: do we choose to experience certain scary things? The rush, sure, 117 00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:14,560 Speaker 1: but also to make our lives feel more meaningful, to 118 00:07:14,640 --> 00:07:18,320 Speaker 1: make memories. Care also notes that a common therapy for 119 00:07:18,360 --> 00:07:21,360 Speaker 1: those who experience anxiety, that other brand of fear that 120 00:07:21,400 --> 00:07:24,320 Speaker 1: consumes many of us these days, is to do something 121 00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:29,800 Speaker 1: scary enough but ultimately safe, to activate your sympathetic nervous system. 122 00:07:29,840 --> 00:07:33,280 Speaker 1: She said, It's a physical sensation that feels good. It 123 00:07:33,320 --> 00:07:36,080 Speaker 1: gives you a mental pause. You become grounded in your body, 124 00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:40,040 Speaker 1: fully distracted by something in your environment, and ultimately you 125 00:07:40,040 --> 00:07:42,720 Speaker 1: realize that you survived something. You set a challenge and 126 00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:47,080 Speaker 1: you survived, which brings gratification. These days will take all 127 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:51,000 Speaker 1: the help we can get, So what's your favorite scary movie? 128 00:07:57,680 --> 00:08:00,320 Speaker 1: Today's episode is based on the article why is so 129 00:08:00,360 --> 00:08:02,880 Speaker 1: Good to Be Scared? On houst works dot com written 130 00:08:02,920 --> 00:08:05,880 Speaker 1: by Jamie Allen. Brainstuff is production of I Heart Radio 131 00:08:05,960 --> 00:08:08,400 Speaker 1: in partnership with HowStuffWorks dot Com, and it's produced by 132 00:08:08,440 --> 00:08:11,840 Speaker 1: Tyler Clang For more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the 133 00:08:11,840 --> 00:08:14,640 Speaker 1: i heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen 134 00:08:14,760 --> 00:08:15,720 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.