morbid curiosity is our inherent trait
Fear is important for us. And your brain mostly prefers fear that can’t harm you.
“Wow, my life is fucked up, but at least it’s not that fucked up.”
As my wife is currently rebinging Dexter
Crime is so fascinating.
Like especially things like terrorism and mass murders
Reading about their fucked up life give me hope, gives perspective on how much better my life is that I did not end up becoming a mass murderer of innocent people.
So if anyone is depressed out there and feeling worthless, remember, you haven’t murdered anyone yet (I assume, right? Anyone murderers on here?) so you’re a very good person by that standards.
(Btw: for those murderers who get released, how the fuck do they find a job, if people with clean records are also having so much trouble finding a job?)
There are programs for people with felonies to find jobs, typically found under “re-entry” or “second chance”. They’re often sucky, poorly paid jobs though.
It’s the same as with fictional horror. It gives you a sense of control. You can play and you can stop at any time.
Because you’re disturbed by it.
Sometimes it’s that simple.
To expand on this, people tend to think “how could a person do something like this to another person”. We become curious about the mystery of events and/or circumstances that drive people to commit such acts.
Being disturbed is engaging.