scripod.com
Murder Mystery

Overview

Shownote

Highlights

Transcript

Chapters

Pins

Murder Mystery

Hidden Brain

2025/12/01
Hidden Brain

Hidden Brain

2025/12/01
OverviewShownoteHighlightsTranscriptChaptersPins

Shownote

Why are so many of us drawn to horror, gore, and true crime? Why do we crane our necks to see the scene of a crash on the highway? Psychologist Coltan Scrivner says that our natural morbid curiosity serves a purpose. We talk with Coltan about our fascinati...

Highlights

What drives us to seek out fear, danger, and darkness in stories—especially when real life feels unstable? From horror films to true crime documentaries, many of us are drawn to narratives that depict the worst-case scenarios, often with surprising psychological benefits.
14:18
Gazelles inspect predators to save energy instead of fleeing constantly
20:57
Watching Contagion during the pandemic gave people a sense of control through narrative coherence.
24:19
Horror fans showed greater resilience during the early pandemic months
39:57
Some paranormal horror fans scored higher in cognitive empathy.
45:55
Not everyone has a natural inclination for morbid curiosity.

Chapters

Why Do We Seek Out Fear When We Crave Safety?
00:00
Is Morbid Curiosity an Evolutionary Survival Tool?
17:44
How Scary Stories Bring Calm Amid Chaos
24:19
Can Fear Actually Bring People Closer Together?
33:31
Do Horror Fans Have More Empathy Than We Think?
45:55

Transcript

Shankar Vedantam: This is Hidden Brain. I'm Shankar Vedantam. We often think of the media we consume as food for the mind. The right books, the uplifting films, the inspiring podcasts, we believe that these will make us wiser, kinder, better people. The Ch...