Why are people drawn to things they FEAR? Like fires, car wrecks, etc.

Why are people drawn to things they FEAR?

An example of this would be someone who becomes glued to or mesmerized by a video of some awful event like a really bad building fire or traffic accident. I had some friends over the other day and someone found that terrible video of The Station nightclub fire online. I don't understand why some people get stuck to that video (and keep watching) even though they say they didn't want to watch it. Anyone know the answer?

I do NOT mean someone who "enjoys" being scared.

I would venture a guess that it could be instinct or shock... but don't know. I personally turned away and am glad I did.

I have often wondered this. I've seen my husband do it quite often. Watching one newscast after another on the Katrina hurricane, 9/11 and school shootings. I asked him why but he wasn't able to give me any answer other than wanting to stay current on the latest news, however, I feel there is more to it than that but can't understand what would cause it.

Anger and the need to get even, can cause that kind of behaviour. Some sit there snapping their fists together, drolling over the video, while discarding half empty soft drinks cups and half eaten pizza onto the floor. It is a kind of meanness. Others watch such videos to feel bad and say ain't it awful, so they can feel bad about life. What we are seeing here, is depression.

I would say that it's a way to process something horrific.

I, personally, could not process 9/11. I was driving on a highway (a couple weeks later) in an area where you could see where the towers had been. There were dozens of cars pulled over and the people were simply staring. They could not process it either....

Sometimes, when something is awful, we literally can't believe it. And I think watching repeatedly, helps you to find a place in your brain to "put" the information that your eyes are sending so that it can be processed in some way....

Just an opinion....

That's interesting.

I suspect that there are a couple of effects. One is, I think a basic instinct to pay close attention to anything around you that might kill you. If there is a tiger in your neighborhood and you see it, you have an urge to keep a close eye on it from a safe distance at all times. You can see cats do this, for instance, if they run across an animal that they have never encountered before.

I think there's also an effect where if a disaster is huge enough, it makes all your own problems tiny by comparison and frees you from them for a while. I used to try this experiment. Suppose someone is unhappy at work. Ask them to imagine a U.S. Navy guided missile cruiser mistakingly launching a Tomahawk cruise missile with the wrong coordinates. Ask them to imagine it getting closer and closer to the Walmart (or wherever they work) and until finally....KABOOM. At the end of this, you will usually see a giant grin on their faces. That would be a tragedy, of course, but it is also makes all the problems with their boss and their co-workers or whatever vanish in their imagination.

Another example of this is the beginning of the Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy. The story starts off with Arthur Dent being FRANTICALLY worried and upset because his house is going to be demolished to make way for a highway exit ramp. In the middle of this crisis about his house, however, the ENTIRE EARTH IS SUDDENLY DESTROYED. I remember finding this sooo relaxing. Poof. Planet earth and everyone you ever knew and every place you've ever been is suddenly just gone.

- v

I definitely remember that one. - I noticed many people staring intensely into the television for hours upon hours, frozen there. Not just the day it happened, but day after day, in some cases.

I wish I knew more about the "need to process." It seems to be a very common thing that people need to do before they can fully move on.

The cat as a silent alarm. - Back in college, if I ever got spooked at night, I would watch my roommate's cat. If the cat wasn't concerned, I figured that I shouldn't be either. If no cat, I'd pour some food. Still no cat, then there might be trouble.

If you experience reality...the real world, every day, but there's an aspect of it you've never seen in person, you're going to feel a need to experience it. It's not every day a teenager beats a man with a hammer, but if it circulated the internet, you'd be a little curious.

Curiosity is a difficult little monster.

True, I would be wondering why someone would do that, - and probably read the article. Or if I were in whatever horrible predicament (whatever it is), what would I do...