Lessons from a terrified horror researcher | Mathias Clasen | TEDxAarhus
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0:19 - 0:22I really don't like
to watch horror films alone. -
0:22 - 0:25That stuff is terrifying, you know.
-
0:25 - 0:28I'm sure many of you
recognize this situation. -
0:28 - 0:29You put on a horror film,
-
0:29 - 0:31you turn down the lights,
-
0:31 - 0:33turn up the volume, and sit back.
-
0:33 - 0:36You're watching as monsters
come creeping out of the dark -
0:36 - 0:39in search of prey.
-
0:39 - 0:41Your heart goes out
to the poor characters in the film, -
0:41 - 0:45and you start squirming in your seat
as the monsters get closer. -
0:46 - 0:48Your pulse accelerates,
-
0:48 - 0:49your palms get sweaty,
-
0:49 - 0:52and your hair stands on end.
-
0:52 - 0:55This is when you begin
to throw nervous glances -
0:55 - 0:58into the corners of the room.
-
0:58 - 1:00What was that sound?
-
1:00 - 1:02Surely it didn't come from the television?
-
1:03 - 1:05Was that movement in the shadows?
-
1:06 - 1:08The horror that's on the screen
-
1:08 - 1:11bleeds in through your system
and into the surroundings. -
1:11 - 1:15The world around you
turns threatening and scary. -
1:15 - 1:18You cover your eyes, but it doesn't help.
-
1:18 - 1:20Pretty soon, you'll have to switch off.
-
1:20 - 1:24But even though you shut off the film,
your heart keeps hammering away. -
1:24 - 1:27You'll probably have nightmares tonight.
-
1:27 - 1:30Still, maybe you ought
to put the film back on. -
1:30 - 1:32You are kind of curious, after all.
-
1:33 - 1:35That's my Saturday night in a nutshell.
-
1:35 - 1:36(Laughter)
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1:36 - 1:39Anybody else ever been in that situation?
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1:40 - 1:42Of all the strange things that humans do,
-
1:42 - 1:46watching horror films
has got to be one of the strangest. -
1:46 - 1:49It's also a really interesting behavior,
scientifically speaking. -
1:50 - 1:53As a horror researcher,
I have thought about it a lot. -
1:53 - 1:54Why do we do it?
-
1:54 - 1:56Why do we watch horror films
and read horror novels -
1:56 - 1:59and play horror video games?
-
1:59 - 2:03And why are there so many spooky creatures
in our worlds of make-believe? -
2:03 - 2:05And what is horror?
-
2:06 - 2:09Horror is a kind of entertainment
that's designed to spook people, -
2:09 - 2:14to make them scream and shiver with fear
and break out in a cold sweat. -
2:14 - 2:16Think Stephen King
and "Paranormal Activity" -
2:16 - 2:18and "The Exorcist."
-
2:18 - 2:22It's a consistently popular
and profitable genre. -
2:22 - 2:27Stephen King has sold
more than 350 million books worldwide. -
2:27 - 2:30In the last 20 years,
in the United States, -
2:30 - 2:33horror films grossed
close to 8 billion dollars. -
2:33 - 2:35It's weird.
-
2:35 - 2:40It's weird because horror is by definition
designed to make its audience feel bad. -
2:40 - 2:43A good horror film
inspires negative emotion. -
2:43 - 2:48It makes us feel disgust and dread
and terror and anxiety and fear. -
2:48 - 2:49Let me ask you -
-
2:49 - 2:52how many of you seek out
horror films from time to time? -
2:52 - 2:54Show of hands, please.
-
2:54 - 2:56Raise your hand if you
sometimes seek out horror. -
2:57 - 2:59Okay, that's about half.
-
2:59 - 3:01That matches my own research.
-
3:01 - 3:02Along with some colleagues,
-
3:02 - 3:05I'm looking into the personality
profile of horror fans, -
3:05 - 3:07and we're finding that more than half,
-
3:07 - 3:09or about 54%,
-
3:09 - 3:12answer in the affirmative
in response to the statement -
3:12 - 3:14"I tend to enjoy horror media."
-
3:15 - 3:18Only 29% say they don't agree
with this statement, -
3:18 - 3:21and the remaining 17%
can't make up their mind. -
3:21 - 3:22(Laughter)
-
3:22 - 3:26You know, they're probably the ones
who would die first in a horror film. -
3:26 - 3:27(Laughter)
-
3:27 - 3:30Next would be the ones
who say they don't like horror. -
3:30 - 3:31(Laughter)
-
3:31 - 3:33Anyway,
-
3:34 - 3:36people really do tend to like
-
3:36 - 3:39the kind of entertainment
that's designed to make them feel bad. -
3:39 - 3:42Why is that the case?
And how does horror even work? -
3:42 - 3:45Those are the kinds of questions
I've been researching, -
3:45 - 3:46and here is what I've found out.
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3:47 - 3:49Horror, in whatever medium,
-
3:49 - 3:53from films and literature
to video games and virtual reality, -
3:53 - 3:59works by exploiting an ancient and evolved
set of biological defense mechanisms. -
3:59 - 4:01Let's call it the "evolved fear system."
-
4:02 - 4:04If we want to understand
how that system works -
4:04 - 4:06and why it became part of human nature,
-
4:06 - 4:10we have to look at the evolutionary
history of our species. -
4:10 - 4:12Now, our evolutionary ancestors
-
4:12 - 4:16found themselves in a world
that was full of danger. -
4:16 - 4:18There was the threat
from predators and creepy-crawlies -
4:18 - 4:21and invisible microorganisms or disease,
-
4:21 - 4:24and the threat from other humans.
-
4:24 - 4:25In response to those dangers,
-
4:25 - 4:28our ancestors gradually
evolved a fear system -
4:28 - 4:32that would keep them alert and alive.
-
4:32 - 4:37In other words, our species evolved
to be hypervigilant and highly fearful -
4:37 - 4:39because being hypervigilant
and highly fearful -
4:39 - 4:42kept our ancestors alive
in a dangerous world. -
4:43 - 4:47The world may now be less dangerous
than it was in ancestral times, -
4:47 - 4:48at least in terms of predation:
-
4:48 - 4:50we're not in any immediate danger
-
4:50 - 4:54of being attacked by a saber-toothed cat
on our way home from work. -
4:54 - 4:57But we are no less vigilant
and no less fearful -
4:57 - 4:59than our evolutionary ancestors.
-
5:00 - 5:04And horror entertainment takes advantage
of that aspect of human nature. -
5:05 - 5:11So horror entertainment works
by transporting us imaginatively -
5:11 - 5:14into virtual worlds
that are full of danger. -
5:14 - 5:16In horror films and literature,
-
5:16 - 5:21we follow and mirror protagonists
as they confront terrifying threats. -
5:21 - 5:24Take Stephen King's
"The Shining," for example. -
5:24 - 5:28Here, we follow a family
who is snowed in at a haunted hotel. -
5:29 - 5:31In the novel's most famous scene,
-
5:31 - 5:34the young boy, Danny, goes into room 217.
-
5:35 - 5:38He walks nervously around the room
and into the bathroom -
5:38 - 5:41where a hotel guest killed herself
some years before. -
5:42 - 5:44The hotel is now supposed to be
empty of guests, -
5:44 - 5:48but to Danny's surprise,
there is somebody in the bathtub - -
5:48 - 5:50or some thing.
-
5:51 - 5:53To Danny's horror, it's a corpse.
-
5:54 - 5:57It's the corpse of the woman
who killed herself. -
5:57 - 5:58She's lying there,
-
5:58 - 6:01bloated and purple
and with glassy, wide eyes. -
6:01 - 6:05She's rotting like meat
festering in the trash. -
6:05 - 6:07And then she starts to get up.
-
6:09 - 6:11King provides a detailed
and really vivid description -
6:11 - 6:13of this moving corpse,
-
6:13 - 6:16and as readers, we are forced
to hold that image in our minds. -
6:16 - 6:17That's bad enough.
-
6:17 - 6:19But we're also given
a detailed description -
6:19 - 6:22of Danny's response to the situation.
-
6:22 - 6:25We learn that he tries to scream
and wets himself. -
6:25 - 6:29We are made to mirror
his fear and revulsion, -
6:29 - 6:32and that strengthens our own responses
to the horrible image. -
6:32 - 6:34Our fear and revulsion
-
6:34 - 6:38become mixed with sympathetic anxiety
for a character in danger. -
6:38 - 6:41It's a strong emotional cocktail.
-
6:43 - 6:47Interactive and live-action media
turn the screw on horror entertainment. -
6:48 - 6:49Horror video games, for example,
-
6:49 - 6:55make you feel as if you're the protagonist
in a digital world populated by monsters. -
6:55 - 6:57In a haunted attraction,
-
6:57 - 7:01visitors walk through scary sets
populated by scare actors. -
7:02 - 7:04Here's a picture
from Dystopia Haunted House, -
7:04 - 7:06Denmark's scariest haunt.
-
7:06 - 7:08What you see is a couple of visitors
-
7:08 - 7:11who were confronted
by a big guy with a machete. -
7:11 - 7:13He's called "Le Chef,"
-
7:13 - 7:15and you can take a guess
at what's on the menu here. -
7:15 - 7:17(Laughter)
-
7:17 - 7:22Around 5,000 people
pay for this every Halloween, -
7:22 - 7:25and around 300 visitors never make it
all the way through the haunt. -
7:25 - 7:26(Laughter)
-
7:26 - 7:29They have to abort their visit
because it's too scary. -
7:29 - 7:33They have fainted from fear,
and they have wet themselves in terror. -
7:34 - 7:35Why do they do it?
-
7:36 - 7:37Why do people pay good money
-
7:37 - 7:39to experience true fear
and genuine terror -
7:39 - 7:41like the people in this picture?
-
7:43 - 7:46They do it because they have
an evolved appetite -
7:46 - 7:49for vicarious experience
with threat scenarios. -
7:49 - 7:52And those scenarios,
our horror entertainment, -
7:52 - 7:57work because they are structured
to target the evolved fear system. -
7:59 - 8:02Just consider the monsters
that populate our horror entertainment, -
8:02 - 8:05from scary folk tales
to haunted attractions. -
8:05 - 8:08Such monsters are universal
in the human imagination, -
8:08 - 8:12and the most horrifying ones
reflect ancestral threats. -
8:14 - 8:17Just think of the enormous
white shark from "Jaws." -
8:17 - 8:18You know -
-
8:18 - 8:21(Hums "Jaws" theme song)
doo doo; doo doo; doo doo. -
8:22 - 8:27The threat depicted here is the threat
from an enormous, man-eating predator. -
8:27 - 8:31That kind of threat really captures
our attention and sparks our imagination -
8:31 - 8:34by engaging the evolved fear system.
-
8:34 - 8:36Now, the film itself
is pretty unrealistic, -
8:36 - 8:38but that doesn't matter.
-
8:38 - 8:42Horror monsters don't
have to be realistic to frighten us; -
8:42 - 8:44they have to engage
the evolved fear system. -
8:44 - 8:50They have to have qualities that match
or overmatch those of ancestral dangers. -
8:50 - 8:53And the white shark in "Jaws"
has that in spades. -
8:53 - 8:55It's like an ancestral predator on speed -
-
8:55 - 8:59faster, bigger, stronger,
and much more dangerous. -
8:59 - 9:01Media psychologists have documented
-
9:01 - 9:05how thousands of people
were traumatized by "Jaws." -
9:05 - 9:09Many viewers even became afraid
of swimming in pools and freshwater lakes -
9:09 - 9:11after watching the film.
-
9:11 - 9:12(Laughter)
-
9:13 - 9:17Consider another well-known
and highly unrealistic monster: -
9:17 - 9:19the zombie.
-
9:19 - 9:21Now, zombies don't exist
in the real world, -
9:21 - 9:25and we have no archaeological evidence
to suggest that they ever did. -
9:25 - 9:29But every well-raised child is able
to mimic the behavior of a zombie. -
9:29 - 9:31You know, their groaning,
-
9:31 - 9:32(Zombie groans)
-
9:32 - 9:35the outstretched but limp arms,
-
9:35 - 9:37and the classic stumbling walk.
-
9:38 - 9:41The monster has really infected
our popular culture in a big way. -
9:42 - 9:44A zombie is a terrifying concept
-
9:44 - 9:46because it effectively targets
the evolved fear system. -
9:46 - 9:50In fact, the zombie targets
the fear system from two angles -
9:50 - 9:53because it combines
the threat of predation -
9:53 - 9:55with the threat of contagion.
-
9:55 - 9:58A zombie is a predator -
it wants to eat you. -
9:58 - 10:01It is also contagious -
it will infect you with its disease. -
10:01 - 10:06It is visibly decomposing,
creeping with rotten pathogens. -
10:06 - 10:07I mean, look at the poor creature.
-
10:07 - 10:08(Laughter)
-
10:09 - 10:10Shoo.
-
10:13 - 10:15(Laughter)
-
10:15 - 10:17(Applause)
-
10:26 - 10:29You can tell that these horror monsters
engage the evolved fear system -
10:29 - 10:32from the behavioral
and physiological effects -
10:32 - 10:34of the good horror film.
-
10:34 - 10:37You know, the goose bumps
and the hammering heart and the screams. -
10:37 - 10:40These are all evolved defensive reactions.
-
10:40 - 10:42Goose bumps are a relic
from a distant past, -
10:42 - 10:44when we were covered in fur.
-
10:44 - 10:47The goose bumps, or piloerection,
would make our fur stand on end -
10:47 - 10:50and so make us look bigger
to scare off an attacker. -
10:50 - 10:53Cats do the same thing, by the way.
-
10:53 - 10:56Our hearts beat faster
to pump blood to the big muscle groups -
10:56 - 10:59so that we're ready for fight or flight.
-
10:59 - 11:02And screams send a signal
to other people - -
11:02 - 11:05a signal for them to help
or get the hell away. -
11:05 - 11:08Horror taps into the evolved fear system,
-
11:08 - 11:10but that's not all.
-
11:10 - 11:13Horror can help us calibrate that system.
-
11:14 - 11:17It's like when you take your car
to the mechanic for a checkup. -
11:18 - 11:21The mechanic carefully goes through
all the vital parts of the car, -
11:21 - 11:22and he or she will make sure
-
11:22 - 11:25that the airbags and the anti-lock
braking system work. -
11:26 - 11:27Hopefully, you'll never need them,
-
11:27 - 11:30because you don't want
to get into a situation -
11:30 - 11:31that requires an airbag to deploy,
-
11:31 - 11:34but you certainly want them to work.
-
11:34 - 11:36Same with the fear system.
-
11:36 - 11:39Through exposure to horror,
you give it a test run, -
11:39 - 11:42make sure it works properly,
and keep it nicely tuned. -
11:43 - 11:46Horror lets us learn
what it feels like to be truly afraid, -
11:46 - 11:50and it lets us learn
how to handle negative emotions. -
11:50 - 11:53It lets us maintain
and refine coping skills -
11:53 - 11:57that we may apply in critical
situations in our own lives. -
11:58 - 12:01There isn't yet much
experimental research into this, -
12:01 - 12:04but we do have some support
from psychological science. -
12:05 - 12:06One study suggests
-
12:06 - 12:10that hardcore horror fans
require more extreme stimulation -
12:10 - 12:12than do less avid fans,
-
12:12 - 12:13which means that the hardcore fans
-
12:13 - 12:18build up some resistance
to fear-provoking stimuli, with exposure. -
12:19 - 12:22Other research suggests
that by exposing ourselves to horror, -
12:22 - 12:27we build a sense of mastery,
which may be transferred to our own lives. -
12:27 - 12:31In this way, horror can help us find
and even expand our limits -
12:31 - 12:34for how much negative
stimulation we can handle. -
12:35 - 12:37I'm not sure I'd be standing here today
-
12:37 - 12:39if I hadn't forced myself
to watch all those horror films -
12:39 - 12:41in the name of science.
-
12:41 - 12:44Sure, my heart is hammering
and my palms are a little sweaty, -
12:44 - 12:47but you guys are a lot less scary
than Pennywise the Dancing Clown. -
12:47 - 12:49(Laughter)
-
12:49 - 12:54So horror can help us
calibrate the fear system, -
12:54 - 12:57and horror can help us
refine our coping skills. -
12:57 - 13:00That's why so many of us
are drawn to the genre -
13:00 - 13:03even if we don't like
to watch horror films alone. -
13:04 - 13:07The next time you are terrified
of a novel, a film, a video game, -
13:07 - 13:09or in a haunt,
-
13:09 - 13:11just remember that you are, in fact,
-
13:11 - 13:16tapping into and calibrating
an ancient biological defense system. -
13:16 - 13:20Never mind the fear
and the screams and the nightmares - -
13:20 - 13:23who's up for a horror film tonight?
-
13:23 - 13:24Thank you.
-
13:24 - 13:26(Applause)
- Title:
- Lessons from a terrified horror researcher | Mathias Clasen | TEDxAarhus
- Description:
-
Horror researcher Mathias Clausen tells us the science of why we love to be scared half to death. Mathias Clasen is a specialist in horror media and has spent years getting to the bottom of the paradox of horror: Why do people seek out the kind of entertainment that’s designed to make them feel bad?
Drawing from research on human cognition and evolution, Mathias argues that our appetite for horror and our fascination with monsters run deep in our nature and that horror entertainment serves important functions for us by satisfying a deep-seated need for imaginative experiences with scenarios of danger.
Despite his sustained professional engagement with the genre, Mathias still cannot watch a horror film alone.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 13:37
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