“What if this happens…what if I meet someone like this…what if there is a global pandemic? There are a lot of ‘what ifs’ that might be nice to know the answer to in the event that it actually does happen.” ~ Coltan Scrivner
I confess, this is a conversation I might have avoided. But then I read this from Coltan Scrivner: “The best way to avoid the consequences of a threat is not to simply avoid it.” And I knew what I had to do.
Do horror movies serve a purpose? Where do you draw the line between revulsion and wanting to know more? These are the questions that drive the research of Coltan Scrivner. Coltan was a Ph.D. student in the Department of Comparative Human Development and a Fellow at the Institute for Mind and Biology at the University of Chicago when we sat down for this interview. He’s now earned his PhD and is a Behavioral Scientist at the Recreational Fear Lab at Aarhus University in Denmark and a Research Project Manager at Arizona State University. He investigates the evolutionary and psychological underpinnings of our fascination with the darker side of life, including horror, true crime, and all types of scary play.
Just in time for Halloween, but with fascinating, surprising and thought-provoking applications any time, we focus today on morbid curiosity.
Listen to Choose to be Curious #155: Morbid Curiosity, with Coltan Scrivner
SO….how morbidly curious are you? Try the Morbid Curiosity Scale.
This episode first aired on WERA-LP October 27, 2021; it has been refreshed, October 2023.
Want to know more? Check out Coltan Scrivner’s website, or his blog at Psychology Today.
Horror fans really feeling less stressed by the pandemic? Read more here.
I mentioned Lily FitzGibbon’s work in counterfactual curiosity, our desire to know about what didn’t happen. Listen to that conversation here.
Our theme music is by Sean Balick; “Nervous Whisp” by CloudCover, via Blue Dot Sessions.
I am honored that Choose to be Curious has been selected as the 2021 Best Informational Talk Show in Community Radio by the Alliance for Community Media’s annual Hometown Media Awards. Please check out other winners and support community media!
You can subscribe to Choose to be Curious on iTunes and Spotify.
Check out the Choose to be Curious shop!
