Why do some people like morbid things, more than others?

[hjgbujhghg]

We all are to some point attracted to morbid, unpleasant, or violent things. It's the natural reaction of our brain, the natural curiosity that helps us prevent the real life danger and learn how to deal with real life unpleasant situations and also help us vent our own inner unpleasant feelings we need to deal with.
But why are some people attracted to dark sides for reality, more than others? Why some people enjoy horror, dramas, thrillers, while others find them unpleasant to watch and rather watch a comedy, or a romance movie? Why do some people rather listen to emotionally tensing, or raw and aggressive music and some people think that happy pop songs on the radio are the best they can get?
I have a suspicion this has to do a lot with imagination, empathy and intuition, but I have a hard time proving it. Have anyone ever made a research about such a fenomena? If not, what are your own thoughts?

 

[Totenkindly]

For me, I like feeling unsettled -- it's a form of anxiety that is actually stimulating to me. I also like the new, the strange, the honest, the real. I feel like much of the casual happy stuff is actually not real or at least not honest, although I can appreciate elements of honesty I see in such things.

I also like to explore things through distortions; if I bend this this way and that, while trying to preserve its essence, what will it look like and what could it do?

For me, I experience it similar to a 5w4 thing -- the distortion of known items into potentially unsettling directions, the better to explore it and understand it. But there's still that weird blend of repulsion and intrigue. It reminds me a bit of the bittersweetness I enjoy in something good -- I like my good stuff to feel sad as well, based on how I see the world.

I can't really speak for others. Perhaps some people just like the jolt of being scared?

 

[hjgbujhghg]

For me, I like feeling unsettled -- it's a form of anxiety that is actually stimulating to me. I also like the new, the strange, the honest, the real. I feel like much of the casual happy stuff is actually not real or at least not honest, although I can appreciate elements of honesty I see in such things.

I also like to explore things through distortions; if I bend this this way and that, while trying to preserve its essence, what will it look like and what could it do?

For me, I experience it similar to a 5w4 thing -- the distortion of known items into potentially unsettling directions, the better to explore it and understand it. But there's still that weird blend of repulsion and intrigue. It reminds me a bit of the bittersweetness I enjoy in something good -- I like my good stuff to feel sad as well, based on how I see the world.

I can't really speak for others. Perhaps some people just like the jolt of being scared?

I feel the same about happy things not being really true, honest and I find much greater honesty in the darker side of life, but this is what I wonder about...why? I knew people are going to talk about enneagram I should have said in my first post, that I am not interested in how 4ish people and people with 4 wing and 4 in tritype and 4th eye like the dark side. Though enneagram is interesting and seek for the source of human reactions even deeper than psychological function in some dimensions, I don't really see being a 4 would be an answer for my question... I mean is there a scientific research on why are some people more attracted to it? Psychological would be good, but biological, or neurological would be even more exciting

 

[indra]

Cuz Si

 

[Totenkindly]

I feel the same about happy things not being really true, honest and I find much greater honesty in the darker side of life, but this is what I wonder about...why? I knew people are going to talk about enneagram I should have said in my first post, that I am not interested in how 4ish people and people with 4 wing and 4 in tritype and 4th eye like the dark side. Though enneagram is interesting and seek for the source of human reactions even deeper than psychological function in some dimensions, I don't really see being a 4 would be an answer for my question... I mean is there a scientific research on why are some people more attracted to it? Psychological would be good, but biological, or neurological would be even more exciting

If you read my post again, you'll see I started out talking about how it's more stimulating to me and I get a charge out of it, I mentioned the enneagram thing in the middle -- simply to say it's interesting how it's reflected there, not as any kind of "answer" -- and then went back to talking about stimulation/jolt of being scared. So don't focus on that part, which was not the point of my post; I was thinking primarily about the biological mechanisms.

I mean, it's Halloween, and obviously there are a lot of people who do enjoy the feeling of being scared; otherwise this holiday would not be celebrated. Some people enjoy the "rush" and others do not, but it's pretty clear there is a biochemical angle there that creates the feeling of discomfort, as I said previously.

I'm more curious about why some people take this as scary-bad while others view it as scary-good and if there is a mechanism in place for that, but we can't even determine how anti-depressants will impact a particular individual's brain before they take them... not sure how close we are on determining why some people are uncomfortable with tension.

 

[Qre:us]

not sure how close we are on determining why some people are uncomfortable with tension.

There are two kinds of people in this world ():
- those who like to explode the tension
- those who like to diffuse the tension

 

[Totenkindly]

There are two kinds of people in this world ():
- those who like to explode the tension
- those who like to diffuse the tension

Well, ironically, I have a strong tendency to diffuse social tension, but I love internal tension.

IOW.... "Define tension."

 

[Qre:us]

IOW.... "Define tension."

There are 16 kinds of people in this world..........

 

[prplchknz]

There are 16 kinds of people in this world..........

and the 1st type killed the 8th who than killed the 4th who killed the 2nd who got pissed at the 3rd and killed those and the 15th just was like god damnit and killed the 16th who made the 14th jealous so the killed the 12th who than looked to the right and decided to kill the 7th who was like damnit and killed the 6th who killed the 5th cuz they thought they were gonna sell them out. the 9th was killed for being to peace and love man and pissing of the 8 which died before 1 killed 8. 10 just died because they were like screw this genocide and wanted to go out nobabley. 11 no one knows that happened to 11 they might be chilling in the artic but as of now they are presumed dead. the 13th died because they were convinced they were god and could fly and jumped off of tall buildings.

so now there's only one type in the world

 

[RedAmazoneFriendZone]

5 WORDS : DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

 

[prplchknz]

5 WORDS : DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

good album, but not morbid. next

 

[Mal12345]

For me, I like feeling unsettled -- it's a form of anxiety that is actually stimulating to me. I also like the new, the strange, the honest, the real. I feel like much of the casual happy stuff is actually not real or at least not honest, although I can appreciate elements of honesty I see in such things.

I also like to explore things through distortions; if I bend this this way and that, while trying to preserve its essence, what will it look like and what could it do?

For me, I experience it similar to a 5w4 thing -- the distortion of known items into potentially unsettling directions, the better to explore it and understand it. But there's still that weird blend of repulsion and intrigue. It reminds me a bit of the bittersweetness I enjoy in something good -- I like my good stuff to feel sad as well, based on how I see the world.

I can't really speak for others. Perhaps some people just like the jolt of being scared?

Sure it's a 5w4, or just a 4 thing. I believe that point 4 is more oriented toward morbidity per se. But that doesn't account for the number of morbidity lovers-likers-wanters out there especially considering the success of horror movies and novels.

In enneagram terms, we could say that it has to do with those who have point 4 in a tritype or point of integration/disintegration. But none of this points toward that which motivates people to want to experience morbid things.

 

[Chthonic]

Why do some people rather listen to emotionally tensing, or raw and aggressive music and some people think that happy pop songs on the radio are the best they can get? I have a suspicion this has to do a lot with imagination, empathy and intuition, but I have a hard time proving it. Have anyone ever made a research about such a fenomena? If not, what are your own thoughts?

I have a melancholic personality and I like to listen to music with a similar tone, it is soothing to me because it echoes my inner condition. I also like gothic romance rather than lighthearted romance for the same reason. It needs to have that resonance with who I am if it is to entertain me. Otherwise it's like being stuck at a party where all you want to do is leave.

I'm not into horror or violence though. My night-time dreams are frequently disturbing containing sexual elements, power and mystical abilities like summoning spirits and the like. Maybe that reflects that comfort in my waking life is a fleeting thing and I am comfortable with discomfort more than I am comfort. To be bored is to be the living dead.

 

[Glint]

I seek out music that enhances/validates my current mood, but I never listen to music as a means of changing my mood. My taste in music is on the dark/instrumental side but it varies quite a bit.
(caveat: I never listen to energetic upbeat music, no matter how elated I may temporarily be. I am not a happy person and listening to happy music does nothing for me. No country music, either!)

I dislike movies whose sole purpose is to elicit an emotional reaction, whether it's fright or empathy (e.g. K-dramas). I feel the emotions, but they're usually unpleasant and frustrating. Excessively emotional and/or comedic media often sacrifices a good storyline for the sake of The Feels, and I find myself criticizing the poor writing.

 

[RedAmazoneFriendZone]

good album, but not morbid. next

Et voilà !

 

[prplchknz]

Et voilà !

it's not. you being angry and beating the shit out of horses that party too hard will not change that fact.

 

[Arctic Hysteria]

Sure it's a 5w4, or just a 4 thing. I believe that point 4 is more oriented toward morbidity per se. [...]

In enneagram terms, we could say that it has to do with those who have point 4 in a tritype or point of integration/disintegration. But none of this points toward that which motivates people to want to experience morbid things.

 

[kyuuei]

There's many aspects to this for me.

The first being religious.. There is dark and light in life. And you can't have one without the other, and you should honor both. To be truthful is to look both sides of life in the face. I admit, I dislike sad movies in general, but I don't feel so much sadness in my life. It isn't a regular part of my life, and I handle sadness fairly well I believe... but otherwise? Death, violence, cold, winter, aloofness, loneliness, the concept of being empty, angry, and sad.. These are all essential, natural, and to ignore them is to be unhealthy. It does no honor to ignore and neglect. That doesn't make it go away. Avoiding it is not the answer in paganism.

The second is my natural personality. I've had gallows sort of humor since I was a child. I thought the idea of monsters were awesome. My parents didn't exactly nurture this, but people are born a certain way. There was no way I could avoid being someone who enjoys horror movies, Halloween, blood and guts, fighting, and angry music.

A third element is my current philsophies in life.. My natural inclination that I feel being outside of your comfort zone expands said comfort zone and, in turn, makes you a better and stronger person with a wider area in which to be comfortable. It's a challenge, and an attainable one, and I welcome challenges of many sorts in my life.

I'm sure there's other aspects of things, like the fact my parents did not shy away from that stuff necessarily, and such, but I think those things are big influences.

 

[Cellmold]

It's about mood, it's place at the time and the consistency of that mood.

For some it is a continuous drive, made even more fiercely when exposed to a general impression that the majority would rather have a lighter experience that fends off such thoughts.

For others it is based in a personal experience that momentarily pulls them to the darker inclination and for a while they embrace it, but eventually they bounce out again, until something else trips their wheels and drags them, kicking & screaming beneath the surface again.

I prefer the macabre and the joyous, since I recognise that both are a product of our perception of whatever happens, always in retrospect and to be truly sincere a person must give either due consideration. And from that the innumerable variations within.

Of course sometimes it's contrary as it's never less than annoying to be told you are spoiling someone else's mood despite not actively divulging your feelings and also knowing that any spoilage they experience they do to themselves.

 

[Little_Sticks]

I have a fascination for death. Maybe Freud would call it the "Death Drive". For me, it's about rebirth through death. Morbidity gives me the freedom to look through what some might try to keep from me, the psychological horrors that change people, and the transformation into something new. I love the idea of being destroyed and reborn into something. I can't say I get any kind of rush from death or horror like some people say here. It's more a detachment from things like that for an appreciation of death. It means taking the forms that my psyche identifies with and letting the darkness blank them out, so that I can fill them again; and in the process I learn about what remains the same through all the changes; I become intimate with the director of all my experiences. Maybe it's a kind of spiritual cleansing in a way. I'm not sure though.