32 Mysterious And Bizarre Posts That Show Just How Weird Our World Really Is

First, we asked John to elaborate on how the evolutionary aspect of our psychology contributes to our fascination with mysteries, particularly those involving high-stakes events.

He shared: “Survival is a key element of evolution. We have a keen interest in information that we think might help us survive. Humans who did not have this strong interest were more likely to die and to leave no genes in children. Humans with a high curiosity about survival matters were more likely to survive and reproduce — those are our ancestors. We also have that curiosity and apply it to mystery cases (and to fictional mystery stories). For instance, I would not fly on certain airlines.”

John, in the article, noted that individuals might feel more content with their own lives in light of disasters that befall others. We asked him to share how this phenomenon of comparative well-being contributes to the appeal of mysteries for the general public. John wrote: “Right now I am reading a fascinating fictional story of human misery, Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver. The story has strengthened my desire to avoid substance abuse, poverty, and Appalachia. I find the story unsettling, but reading it helps me see how fortunate I have been in life since the moment I was born. If something bad happens in my life, I think about how fortunate in general I have been relative to others.”

John's article suggests that people derive satisfaction from joining the excitement of chasing the truth in dramatic events. We were curious to know how this aspect of participation and engagement with unfolding mysteries relates to the psychological concept of "flow," where individuals become deeply immersed and engaged in an activity and how might this influence the level of interest people have in real-life mysteries versus fictional ones.

“People like a challenge. When trying to meet an interesting challenge, we may go into flow -- where we feel focused, energetic, and content. I am driven to keep reading my Copperhead book by the desire to know what happens next to the unlucky boy. When I read I feel a sense of flow. I feel the same strong curiosity when I read about mass murders, whether by deadly mushrooms, knife, or whatever,” answered John.

And lastly, in his article, John also mentioned enjoying both real-life mysteries like the Oscar Pistorius trial and fictional mysteries like "The Woman in White." He shared how these two types of stories differ in their psychological impact on readers or observers. “Good writers make a fictional mystery story seem real, so there is not much difference in the emotional impact between fictional stories and real ones. A big difference occurs between a tragic story that is distant from me and one that involves me or my loved ones. With distant stories, I have an emotional buffer that protects me.”