Coltan Scrivner23 August 2025

Why We’re Drawn to Death, Crime, & Danger - Coltan Scrivner - #984

0Frameworks

17Insights

Insights & moments

The myth-busts, hot takes, explainers, and tools worth keeping.

Myth Buster· 2

Myth Buster27:30

Disgust Doesn't Predict Interest in Gore the Way You'd Think

Scrivner corrects the assumption that disgust sensitivity should strongly predict aversion to bodily injury content. Citing a Tom Kupfer study using fake wound dressings, he shows people are far more willing to touch/handle bandages from non-infectious wounds (knife cuts) than from infectious ones (eye infections) — because disgust specifically targets infection risk, not injury in general.

A study by Tom Kupfer used fake bandages labeled as infectious vs non-infectious wounds
Participants were far more willing to touch non-infectious wound dressings (e.g. knife cuts) than infectious ones
Disgust sensitivity appears tuned specifically to infection risk, not injury/gore broadly
This explains why disgust barely predicts morbid curiosity about bodily injury overall

“If it's a bandage from a knife wound, people were way more likely to pick that up than they are a bandage from an eye…”
Coltan Scrivner · 29:00

#disgust#body-violation#myth-busting#research

Myth Buster58:00

Horror Fans Aren't Less Empathetic — People Just Assume They Are

Scrivner busts the common belief that horror fans are cold or low-empathy. His research found no actual relationship between empathy and horror fandom — in fact enjoying horror requires empathizing with the endangered protagonist to feel the fear that makes the genre work. But he also found people stereotype horror fans as less compassionate anyway, based purely on stated genre preference.

No measured relationship exists between empathy levels and horror-fan status
Enjoying horror actually requires empathizing with the vulnerable protagonist to generate fear/dread
Despite this, a separate study found people rate a hypothetical horror fan as less empathetic and compassionate just for liking the genre
Exception: a truly cold, low-empathy person (like a real predator) might watch horror for opposite reasons — training with the predator, not the prey

“There's no relationship between empathy levels in horror fans or people who really dislike horror.”
Coltan Scrivner · 59:00

“It's a different kind of training, right? They're training with the Predator, not with the Prey.”
Coltan Scrivner · 62:00

#horror#empathy#myth-busting#research

Hot Take· 2

Hot Take01:00

The Violence Paradox That Kickstarted the Research

Scrivner explains the paradox that got him into morbid curiosity research: humans punish and shun violence in almost every context, yet in certain settings — like the Roman Colosseum — violence was celebrated by tens of thousands of people. He wanted to understand how people mentally separate 'acceptable' violence from 'unacceptable' violence.

In nearly every part of life, violence is condemned and punished
Certain contexts (Roman Colosseum) made violence revered and enjoyed by huge crowds
This paradox became his first entry point into studying morbid curiosity

“In almost every aspect of life we think violence is bad and we try to shun it, we punish it. But there are certain circumstances…”
Coltan Scrivner · 01:00

#morbid-curiosity#violence#psychology#history

Hot Take37:30

War Stories Are 'True Crime for Dudes'

Scrivner agrees with the host's framing that war stories function for men the way true crime does for women — both map onto the type of violence each sex is statistically most likely to encounter. Historically men face violence from other men in group conflict/war contexts, while women's violence risk is concentrated in close personal relationships.

True crime consistently skews female across podcasts, books, and other formats
Historically, men's violence risk comes from other men, often in a war/intergroup context
Women's violence risk is more concentrated in close personal relationships (e.g. domestic abuse)
This maps onto childhood play patterns — boys gravitate to war/battle games, girls to nurturing play

“I do have this theory that real world war stories are just true crime for dudes.”
Chris Williamson · 37:30

“They are true crime for dudes. Absolutely.”
Coltan Scrivner · 38:00

#gender-differences#true-crime#war#evolution

Explainer· 8

Explainer04:30

Why Gazelles Stop and Stare at Cheetahs Instead of Running

Scrivner describes 'predator inspection' — a documented behavior where gazelles and zebras will pause and actively observe a nearby predator rather than flee, especially when they're adolescent, in a large group, or at a safe distance. He argues human storytelling lets us get the same threat-learning benefit without any of the real-world risk.

Zebras and gazelles will watch lions/cheetahs rather than flee under certain conditions (called 'predator inspection')
More likely when adolescent, in a large group, or far from the predator
Prey animals live among predators who aren't always hunting, so learning to read their state matters
Humans can get the same learning benefit through stories without being physically present in danger

“We can kind of gain the learning benefits of predator inspection without actually being in any danger. And that's really that's like candy for our…”
Coltan Scrivner · 05:00

#evolution#predator-inspection#animal-behavior#morbid-curiosity

Explainer06:00

Why a Street Fight Disturbs You But the UFC Doesn't

Scrivner unpacks why paying to watch UFC feels different from witnessing a street fight or rubbernecking a crash: control, safety, and disgust sensitivity. People high in disgust sensitivity may avoid a horror movie but still read a book on the same topic, because a book gives them more control over how vivid the imagery becomes.

Perceived safety/control changes whether we enjoy versus merely feel drawn to violent content
Disgust sensitivity varies by person and affects tolerance for gore
Books give more control over vividness than film, which is dictated entirely by the director
High-disgust people may read about violence but avoid watching it on screen

“If you're high in disgust sensitivity, you may not watch a horror movie. You might be willing to read a book about the same topic…”
Coltan Scrivner · 06:30

#disgust#control#media-psychology#ufc

Explainer08:00

The Four Domains of Morbid Curiosity

Using survey data built from scratch (no prior scale existed), Scrivner identified four distinct domains people are morbidly curious about: witnessing violence, minds of dangerous people (true crime), the outcome of violence (bodily injury), and the supernatural/paranormal. He explains each domain's evolutionary logic, including why paranormal beliefs may function as a way to reason about unknown, malicious agents.

Domain 1: witnessing violence itself
Domain 2: minds of dangerous people (true crime)
Domain 3: bodily injury/violation — important for treating wounds and inferring what caused them
Domain 4: supernatural/paranormal — tied to reasoning about unknown, unseen, malicious threats (referencing Ed Hagen & Aaron Lightner's research)
Before germ theory, disease was often explained via witches or gods — an unknown malicious agent narrative

“You come across someone in the forest and their whole arm is missing, that's a different story, right? That means there's something really large and…”
Coltan Scrivner · 09:00

#morbid-curiosity#taxonomy#true-crime#supernatural

Explainer18:00

Why We Dream About Predators (and Being Hunted)

Scrivner explains a leading theory that dreaming exists partly to rehearse threats offline, cheaply, without the cost of real danger. He cites a 1960s cat study where severing a paralysis-inducing brain connection caused sleeping cats to physically act out hunting or fleeing behaviors, and an anthropologist's fieldwork with the Mehinaku people showing predator-related themes dominate reported dreams.

Dreaming is a high-investment cognitive activity theorized to rehearse threat scenarios safely
In a 1960s study, cats with severed paralysis pathways physically acted out hunting/being-hunted movements while asleep
The Mehinaku people reliably recount dreams, and predators (jaguars, snakes) and dangers dominate their reported dream content
Threats show up broadly in dreams, not just in nightmares — nightmares are a narrower, more terrifying subset

“One of the most influential and empirically backed theories for why dreaming exists is that it's really good at rehearsing threats when you're sort of…”
Coltan Scrivner · 19:00

“Cats almost always got up and moved around in these sort of either predatorial types of ways or prey types of ways where they were…”
Coltan Scrivner · 20:30

#dreams#sleep#evolution#threats

Explainer23:30

What Actually Predicts Morbid Curiosity (and What Doesn't)

Scrivner ran a large personality study testing whether traits like the Big Five/HEXACO, psychopathy, disgust sensitivity, age, and sex predict morbid curiosity. Even combining every predictor, he could only explain about 50% of the variance. The strongest single predictor was the 'rebelliousness' subscale of subclinical psychopathy; disgust sensitivity, surprisingly, barely mattered.

Best combined model of all personality measures explained only ~50% of variance in morbid curiosity scores
Rebelliousness (a psychopathy subscale) was the single strongest correlate
Disgust sensitivity was only weakly correlated — much less than expected
Morbid curiosity decreases with age, mirroring adolescent gazelles doing the most predator inspection
Men score higher on interest in violence; women score higher on interest in the minds of dangerous people

“The closest I got when I included all of the significant predictors was about 50%.”
Coltan Scrivner · 25:00

#psychopathy#personality#individual-differences#age#gender

Explainer45:00

Why Ambiguous Police Body Cam Footage Goes Viral

Scrivner explains why police body cam footage draws a large YouTube audience: the most-watched clips tend to be the most ambiguous ones, where it's unclear whether the person was armed or aggressive. This ambiguity lets viewers rehearse how they'd interpret and react in the same high-stakes encounter.

Police body cam footage matters because encountering police is a realistic scenario people could find themselves in
News coverage skews toward the worst, most ambiguous police encounters
Ambiguity (did they have a weapon? were they aggressive?) is what drives viewer interest and engagement
Viewers use the footage to rehearse their own interpretation and hypothetical response

“I think in particular those really violent, ambiguous police videos are what really get people paying attention.”
Coltan Scrivner · 46:30

#police#bodycam#media#ambiguity

Explainer47:30

The Real Definition of a Horror Movie

Scrivner presents his own research (analyzing ~600 films) defining the horror genre not by how scared the audience feels, or the director's intent, but by the structural relationship between characters: a very formidable antagonist paired with a very vulnerable protagonist — a story archetype no other genre reliably uses.

Prior definitions of horror (based on audience fear or director's intent) are inconsistent and subjective
His empirical analysis of ~600 films found horror reliably pairs a highly vulnerable protagonist with a highly formidable antagonist
This underdog structure is what makes horror distinctly appealing to morbidly curious audiences
The protagonist typically has no real means of escape yet usually survives anyway

“It seems like in horror movies... horror movies feature very vulnerable protagonists and very formidable antagonists.”
Coltan Scrivner · 49:30

#horror#film#genre-definition#research

Explainer50:00

Why Zombie Movies Are So Universally Popular

Scrivner explains that zombie fiction is uniquely appealing because it's one of the only genres that reliably taps all four domains of morbid curiosity at once: minds of dangerous people (is anything human left?), violence, the paranormal/uncertain (alive or dead?), and bodily violation (gruesome injuries) — which he says explains why franchises like World War Z, I Am Legend, and The Walking Dead do so well commercially.

Zombies tap the 'dangerous minds' domain — is there still a human consciousness inside?
They tap the violence domain directly through attacks and often intergroup conflict among survivors
They tap the paranormal domain via ambiguous alive/dead status
They tap the body-violation domain through graphic injuries
This combination explains the commercial success of zombie franchises (World War Z, I Am Legend, The Walking Dead)

“I think zombie movies sort of reliably tap into all four domains of morbid curiosity, which makes them really appealing.”
Coltan Scrivner · 51:30

#zombies#horror#film#morbid-curiosity

Story· 2

Story31:00

The COVID Study: Morbidly Curious People Handled the Pandemic Better

When COVID shut down his planned eye-tracking lab study in March 2020, Scrivner pivoted to test whether morbidly curious people were psychologically more resilient to the pandemic. Controlling for income, personality, age and other factors, he found morbidly curious people reported greater optimism, lower anxiety, and lower depression compared to their pre-pandemic baseline than non-morbidly-curious people.

COVID forced Scrivner to cancel a planned in-person eye-tracking study and pivot online
He tested whether interest in true crime/horror predicted better psychological coping with the pandemic
Even controlling for income, Big Five personality, and age, morbidly curious people showed greater resilience
They reported more optimism and lower anxiety/depression relative to their pre-pandemic levels

“People who are morbidly curious were reporting a greater level of psychological resilience. They were feeling optimistic about the future... compared to non-morbidly curious people.”
Coltan Scrivner · 33:30

#covid#resilience#research#morbid-curiosity

Story41:00

Teaching Kids 'Mafia' Turned Into Gory, Unprompted Violence

As a young grad student working as a 'mad scientist' running science camps, Scrivner taught 5-9 year-olds the game Mafia/Werewolf to fill indoor break time. Once kids started narrating the murders themselves, their descriptions turned spontaneously gruesome (entrails, decapitations) despite him deliberately keeping his own narration tame — illustrating how naturally morbid curiosity surfaces in children's pretend play.

Scrivner taught the game Mafia/Werewolf to kids ages 5-9 at a summer science camp because they couldn't play outside in the heat
He deliberately kept his narration tame to avoid disturbing parents
Once kids narrated the game themselves, stories became spontaneously violent and gory (guts, decapitations) without any prompting
He concludes kids are highly morbidly curious, expressed safely through pretend play where they control the intensity

“It became this like awful scene of like out of the worst horror movies... their heads were cut off. It was like this horribly violent…”
Coltan Scrivner · 44:00

“I think kids are super morbidly curious, but it shows up in their pretend play a lot, where they have control over how that feels…”
Coltan Scrivner · 45:00

#children#play#morbid-curiosity#anecdote

Q&A· 1

Q&A34:00

Why Some Women Are Drawn to Serial Killers Like Ted Bundy

Asked why women send fan mail to serial killers (even unattractive ones like Jeffrey Dahmer), Scrivner explains it as safe access to learn about the most dangerous possible person. His own dating-profile study found morbidly curious women swiped more on 'dark triad' men, but reported being interested in learning about them rather than feeling emotional warmth — a distinct behavioral vs affective response.

A neutralized, imprisoned dangerous man (e.g. Ted Bundy) offers a uniquely safe way to study a highly dangerous person firsthand
In a study with fake dating profiles, morbidly curious women swiped more on men high in the 'dark triad' (psychopathy, sadism, Machiavellianism)
These women reported curiosity/interest in learning about the men, not necessarily warmth or attraction
Speculative extension: a dangerous, high-status man could be a powerful ally if not an enemy

“A dangerous person is only dangerous to you if they don't like you, right? A dangerous person likes you, then they become a huge asset…”
Coltan Scrivner · 37:00

#true-crime#dark-triad#attraction#serial-killers

Tool· 1

Tool52:30

'Monster Enters Left' — The Jump Scare Trick Filmmakers Use

The host shares a filmmaking concept called 'monster enters left,' the theory that horror directors exploit a viewer's tendency to visually drift toward the right side of the screen, placing jump scares on the left where attention is weakest so they hit the brain faster and harder. Scrivner finds it compelling but notes it hasn't been formally studied in peer-reviewed research.

Theory: viewers' eyes drift rightward while watching, so jump scares placed on the left are more startling
Related to 'pseudo-neglect,' a right-hemisphere spatial attention bias documented in visual search research
The left-side surprise reportedly taxes cognitive resources, reducing the ability to anticipate the threat
Both agree it's an interesting but empirically unverified/unexplored idea, likely worth studying with cross-cultural film analysis

“Horror filmmakers know that the human eye has a tendency to drift slightly to the right of the screen when they're viewing a movie. So…”
Chris Williamson · 52:30

#horror#cinematography#jump-scares#attention

Takeaway· 1

Takeaway12:30

The Common Thread: It's All Threat Learning

Scrivner distills all four domains of morbid curiosity down to one underlying driver: learning about what could harm you and how to avoid or survive it. He notes a real study found the single most interesting part of a true crime story is specifically how the victim escaped.

All morbid curiosity domains reduce to threat detection and threat mitigation
In true crime, the escape method is the most compelling detail to audiences (per a cited study)
Evolution pairs curiosity with fear so we approach useful information without overexposing to real danger

“There's actually been a study showing that people find that aspect of the true crime story most interesting... the one where like if a victim…”
Coltan Scrivner · 13:00

#threat-learning#true-crime#evolution