The "Moments Before Disaster" subreddit is a relatively small community, with only 22k members. Yet the premise of the subreddit has been explored before. In a way, it's the naughty cousin of the r/PerfectTiming group. Whereas it's all about the comedic effect in the former, the latter focuses on the aesthetic and the oddly satisfying value of a picture snapped just at the right moment.
Another element that makes the pictures from "Moments Before Disaster" so enjoyable is the "calm before the chaos" bit. We see the moment right before something bad happens, and some of them are even famous. Like the one entry on this list featuring the now-infamous moment at a Coldplay concert between two Astronomer employees.
When we see the photograph today, we know what's going to happen next: the cameraman will pan to the couple cuddling, they will recoil from each other, and will later be exposed as two already married people having an affair. It shows us the viral moment from another perspective and from another point in time, prompting us to cringe because of what's about to happen.
We find the rest of the photos on this list funny based on the same premise. When a snowball is flying toward a kid's face, we know that he will either start bawling or go into a snowball rampage against his playmate. When we see a tennis ball flying straight toward the crotch of a stunt performer, we cringe in advance at the pain he's going to feel.
There's an element of schadenfreude to these pictures as well. After all, we're laughing at these folks' misfortunes, whether that's getting hit in the nuts or a puppy about to get bitten. You might feel a bit guilty about laughing at a kid getting hit in the face with a snowball or at a dog who's about to be swallowed by a giant sea wave.
But feelings of schadenfreude aren't all bad, especially if we're able to distinguish between what's ethical and what's mean. Schadenfreude isn't the same as maliciously wishing bad things to happen to people. The feeling of schadenfreude is short, and it's still possible for a person to laugh at someone stumbling but still care about whether they hurt themselves or not.
Schadenfreude is also a normal feeling to have. In fact, 1-year-olds reportedly experience it, as they might derive momentary joy from their sibling being scolded instead of them. This is why schadenfreude is sometimes our way of restoring balance in the world. If someone hurts, insults, or disappoints us, we naturally wish that karma would get them. And if it does, we feel a moment of joy at the universe's sense of justice.
However, there's a dark side to it, too. Psychologists note that those who have the Dark Triad of personality traits (narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism) tend to enjoy schadenfreude more. Depending on which trait is more prominent in a person, they feel schadenfreude in different ways. Narcissists, for example, might enjoy it more when someone is doing worse than they are at work – projecting an image that they're better than other people is important to them.
