Learning About Dangerous Situations

This cost-benefit shift in learning about dangerous situations lies at the core of our morbid curiosity, our love of violent thrillers, and our fascination with serial killers. We thirst for knowledge about the killer.

Why does he behave as he does? How does he act around others when he isn’t hunting? What are his motivations for selecting his victims? Perhaps most importantly, what are the signs that someone might be a killer? Questions like these intrigue us because they strike at something deep in our animal nature—the need to avoid predation.