Crime Stories As Coping Mechanisms

• Gore watchers typically have low empathy, high sensation seeking, and a strong identification with the killer.
• Thrill watchers typically have both high empathy and sensation seeking;they identify themselves more with the victims and like the suspense of the film.
• Independent watchers typically have a high empathy for the victim along with a high positive effect for overcoming fear.
• Problem watchers typically have high empathy for the victim but are characterized by negative effect (particularly a sense of helplessness).

• Dr. Carl Jung believed horror films “tapped into primordial archetypes buried deep in our collective subconscious – images like shadow and mother play important role in the horror genre”.
• Horror films are watched as a way of purging negative emotions and/or as a way to relieve pent-up aggression.
• Horror movies are enjoyed because the people on screen getting killed deserve it.
• Cultural historian David Skal has argued that horror films simply reflect our societal fears.

A university professor researching Zen sought master Nan-in, who served him tea. Nan-in poured his visitor’s cup full, and then kept on pouring. The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. “It is overfull. No more will go in!”

“Like this cup,” Nan-in said, “you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?”

A farmer was consoled by his neighbors who claimed it was bad luck his horse ran away. The farmer replied “Maybe.” The horse returned with more horses, so his neighbors said it was luck. The farmer said “Maybe.” Later a horse broke his son leg and the neighbors said it was a misfortune. The farmer said “Maybe.” The next day his son escaped conscription thanks to his broken leg and the neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out. The farmer said “Maybe.”

Time goes on and good and bad are two sides of the same coin. Being aware of this allows us to find peace and happiness.

• The US buys an equivalent of 298 paracetamol tablets per person every year.
• The average American consumes $1,200 worth of prescription medications over the same period.
• In the UK, one in 10 people over the age of 65 takes eight medications every week.

• People with lower cholesterol levels are more likely to die violent deaths.
• If you put primates on a low-cholesterol diet, they become more aggressive. Lowering animals’ cholesterol seems to affect their levels of serotonin. Even fruit flies start fighting if you interfere with their serotonin levels.
• Studies have linked serotonin levels in people to violence, impulsivity, suicide, and murder.
• In a randomized controlled trial, statins were found to increase aggression in post-menopausal women though, oddly, not in men. Giving statins to Nile tilapia made them more confrontational and altered the levels of serotonin in their brains.

Sports psychologists have a list of why people love sports:

• Sports carry self-esteem benefits.
• Commercial reasons (money bets etc.).
• Peer pressure of being part of their group.
• Sports are exciting.
• Sports is an aesthetically pleasing activity.
• A venue for emotional expression.
• Sports is an escape from real-world problems.
• Sports provide a sense of connectedness and belonging.

• Talent-Luck Theory: Sports appeals to a lot of people due to its ability to balance skill with randomness.
• Mirror Neurons: Many fans are able to feel what the player is feeling, and experience the excitement first-hand in his mind, with no barrier between the self and the outside world.

Studying the natural disasters of the past, sociologists agree that while news reports lean towards the negative, a vast majority of people, good samaritans, doctors, nurses, government servants stay calm and help to the best of their abilities. While there can be panic and fear, caring for the other becomes common.

Economists and politicians often have views based on logical projection and past data, but human beings are an evolving race, and many assumptions now need to be overhauled.

A crisis helps draw awareness towards our fellow human beings, with our starting to embrace dependency, community, and solidarity, something not visible in normal circumstances.

Though we have to keep a physical distance in these strange times, we embrace each other more warmly.

The organic and unpredictable nature of conspiracy theories had led many researchers to investigate the cause of the phenomenon.

• Successful conspiracy theories always tend to invent a great villain, have a backdrop or a backstory, and a morality lesson that can be easily understood by most.
• Great stories are by nature more magnetic and appealing than the truth.
• Human beings think and understand in stories. For thousands of years, fairy tales, legends, anecdotes and mysteries have helped our brains make sense of the world.

Every society has its own, unique anxieties and obsessions, and the conspiracy theories that gain good mileage are the ones that tap into these primal fears.

Example: Many people fear vaccination of the children due to fears that the mass drive to vaccinate such a large population has some ulterior motive, like a mass medical experiment. The dodgy past record of the health care system, and the fact that the vaccination is free of charge, of course, adds fuel to the fire.

This is the fear of losing any part of our bodily structure or the thought of having our body's boundaries invaded.

Anxiety about animals, such as bugs, spiders, snakes, and other creepy things arises from fear of mutilation.

The fear of being immobilized, restricted, overwhelmed, entrapped, smothered, or otherwise controlled by circumstances beyond our control. 

Fear of intimacy, or "fear of commitment," is basically fear of losing one's autonomy.

The old folktales didn't have a black-and-white narrative, and instead had nuanced characters with personality, and not necessarily morality.

In many old stories, the protagonist had a varied set of values, which were colorful and diverse.

The old complex storylines were not having a clear identification of what's good and what's bad. The reader had to figure out the details and the complexity which lead to endless discussions.

The modern tales provide a simplified 'colour by numbers' approach to understanding, with clear outlines as to who is the Hero with all the morals, and who is the bad guy who must be killed.

In the real world, events typically have multiple intersecting causes that work together to cause the events we see.

However, the complexities are often difficult to grasp and even harder to change, resulting in simplification. While the causes we cite may be true, it seldom is the sole or primary cause.

An exaggeration fallacy is committed when irrelevant causal influences are added to the argument.

For example, "My client killed Joe Smith, but the cause for his violent behaviour was eating junk food which impaired his judgment." There is no clear link between junk food and violent behaviour, and the real causes end up being hidden behind irrelevant pseudo-causes.

• You are smart and qualified, but eager to understand the company’s culture.
• You have transferable skills, but are open to new approaches.
• You have a long track record of success, but surround yourself with strong talent.
• You are a quick study, but eager to learn.
• You are visionary, but you learn during execution.
• You can make a difference for the organization, but you need to know where and how said difference is needed.