Vicarious

I am doing a college report on the matter that Humans as a speices feed off other peoples tragedy, and Why we would turn on the television just to see it when anyother day we wouldn't bother turning it on. Media sales sky rocket with headlines like" 100 dead in plane crach" more than ever. I want to understand this. Is there any book, Abstract or anyother paper that i could find anything about this " Condition" we all seem to have that no one wants to admit their thrill for?? <br /> <br /> Email me at <br /> mcctho36@pct.edu<br /> or<br /> tetnus76@hotmail.com<br /> <br /> Thank you.

Why would we be Ashamed? Where is that getting us... <br /> Build up to power yourself through your life. Make a difference...Let's turn our eye away from the T.V. and toward the realities of our future life on Earth.

@Davezs, you just made yourself part of the song. You're part of the problem.<br /> <br /> "Credulous at best, your desire to believe in angels in the hearts of men.<br /> Pull your head on out your hippy haze and give a listen."<br /> <br /> lmao. Irony.

I don't think there's anything shameful about being fascinated by violence/death/evil. I can't speak for other living things, but we as humans are conscious of our own mortality. Our curiosity seeks to understand it, while our instinct for self-preservation fears it. Since we can't explore it personally and survive to understand it, we can only examine death through the deaths of other people. The same with violence and cruelty. Most of us don't care to experience it first hand, so the only way to learn about it is vicariously. We are fascinated out of fear... "Neither the brave nor bold were writers of the stories told"... what would I do if this happened to me? It can also provide a way to empathize with others and see that we all share the same fears. It seems the shameful thing is that the media has capitalized on this basic need within us and turned it into a way to profit. That's why there is so much violence in movies, tv shows, music, books, etc... The problem seems to be desensitization due to overexposure to it. Just look at the news! And in a way we find pleasure in the desensitization, because it numbs us from the fear. Like "junkies staring at a screen", the more we watch the more we feel safe in accepting violence and death, because we've already 'experienced' it. It also exposes our lack of desire to do as Davesz mentioned. Most people don't care until it affects their life personally. We naturally prefer to look out for ourselves rather than look out for others, which is part of why there is so much violence. We haven't evolved to a point of communal "hippy" thinking, and perhaps it's counter-intuitive to our nature. That's what I get out of it anyway! I'm sure there's more, as there are over 400 comments :-)

@lipanconjuring I think the line "so it is, so it's always been" is actually referring more to the concept of eternal return, not just humanity. "The universe is hostile, so impersonal, devour to survive." Everything in the universe is constantly being broken down, from the cells in our bodies to the elements in stars. It has been in a constant state of cycling since its existence, it devours itself, and because we are part of the universe it devours us as well, it's nothing personal. I'm not sure if that's what he was referring to in the song but that's what I got out of the song. Basically, we live in fear of death, we read these events that happen in horror, glued to the screen petrified like "I'm glad that wasn't me" and finding satisfaction in the fact we survive when in reality death is just a part of life and there is nothing to be afraid of.