According to Professor Degges-White from Northern Illinois University, information about the darker aspects of humanity allows the audience to create comparisons to their own behavior. As a result, we feel better about those traits that we might not like in ourselves.
“Whether it's greed, anger, promiscuity, and so on, when we hear just how bad someone else has been, it can make us feel better about our own tendencies towards the dark side traits. It also lets us imagine vicariously what it would be like to be ‘that bad.’”
She continued: “It's kind of like watching all the true crime shows—we enjoy being scared, we enjoy seeing into the minds of people doing things we never would, and it's exciting and novel to see just how far people can go in terms of their dark sides.”
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The professor warned us that living in constant anger (e.g. being angry at how unjust the world is all the time) can have very negative effects on our bodies.
“Constant anger can lead to metabolic diseases, cardiovascular problems, and digestive issues. For some people, health concerns are the reason that they may learn to let go of anger,” she said.
“While being angry can lead to social change and begin to topple barriers and other aspects of injustice, we also know that anger isn't going to be the best choice to build alliances or convince others of the need for change. Finding common ground is essential in making true, collaborative change. This requires us to let go of anger, whether that is finding a way to sublimate it or overcome it, or just put it aside for the time being,” the professor explained that anger, while useful, isn’t the answer to everything. It has a place and a time.
Despite the fact that the r/extremelyinfuriating subreddit is all about sharing and commenting on infuriating content, the community isn’t about directing this anger against the perpetrators of terrible and heinous acts. It’s not about becoming a vigilante.
The moderators stress time and time again that the subreddit isn’t about starting witch hunts or wishing someone else harm. As such, you should avoid posting any identifying information that could lead to someone getting hurt. (Even if you might personally think that Karma might need a helping hand.)
“This subreddit is about things that are extremely infuriating. This often includes terrible people doing terrible things. But witch hunts and doxxing will not be tolerated, and anyone who provides or attempts to discover the identity (including, but not limited to, real name, Reddit username, Twitter handle, etc.) of anyone involved in a submission will be banned,” the mods of r/extremelyinfuriating explain.
The team behind the subreddit also points out that disagreements are fine, but hostility and insults are definitely not. It’s vital to stay civil even when talking about emotional topics. Taking part in polite discussion lies at the core of the online group, even if the subject matter is extremely infuriating to most people.
What’s more, the mods point out that it’s never okay to wish harm on someone. “You can express your frustration or dislike for someone without advocating for them to be physically harmed or murdered,” they write.
Something that can’t be denied is that many people have a strange fascination with the darker aspects of humanity. Bored Panda spoke to psychologist Lee Chambers about this in detail, with regards to the popularity of the true-crime genre, as well as why people enjoy viewing media that portrays violence and evil.
"When considering why the darker side of humanity and entertainment are so compelling, we have to first look at our evolutionary journey as human beings. For the majority of our existence, we were prey and always hyperaware of threats to our safety, which created a negativity bias that we are drawn towards," the psychologist began.
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"But in today's safe and often sanitized world, we are rarely threatened significantly, and the ability to explore evil, frightening and gruesome entertainment is one of the few ways we can visit this part of humanity while remaining safe and comfortable,” he told us.
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“There is a level of novelty to it, it removes boredom quickly, and it helps us to discover our emotional limits while understanding the minds of those who go beyond social norms and potentially gaining knowledge of how we might avoid being victims ourselves. They also offer closure, with many stories ending with the mystery being solved, and the criminal being brought to a level of justice," Lee said.
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