Patricia Geyerhahn
April 25, 2019
An Inquiry of Curiosity and Fear — What is the relationship between curiosity and fear, insofar as we desire to know about the things we are afraid of?
It is a strange thing to admire what you fear. We often assume that the things that drive us (in any affair) are the things we interact with daily, the things we understand. However true this case may be, I can vouch from personal experience this is not the end of the discussion. Our mundane surroundings will always play a part in our processing of the world its experiences, as they are mundane and therefore constantly interact in that world and those experiences. But, it seems as though this truth neglects the truth of the other case: the case for the things outside our day to day life. These things are alien to us, they are the things we don’t see and don’t understand. And one often fears what they don’t understand. What are the implications then that this ignorance of “the other things” leads us to fear? Some may say it will cause us to retract and avoid the unknown, however I have to disagree. Although there is safety and a sense of protection from staying inside the mundane, this is not where the drive create comes from. A curiosity of the unknown is a curiosity to understand what we fear, and this is the greatest drive. Discomfort (any discomfort) is where creativity lives and where the human mind can expand, as it is the place of uncharted inquiry. This essay is, therefore, an inquiry in to the relationship between curiosity and fear through the lens of social, psychological, and philosophical lenses.
Curiosity of the things we fear is commonly seen by our society as negative and shameful, and therefore is not encouraged. This is ironic, because there is an inherent cultural phenomenon that relies on fear as a mechanism to enhance society. What I mean by that is how many cultural practices lead us to inquire about those “unknown scary things.” In many conservative cultures, such as my own South American culture, engaging with things such as witchcraft (bruxaria) can lead to detrimental consequences, both within your family as well as in your society. Families will institute fear in to their children’s minds to keep them away from exploring entities deemed scary by their culture. And so, in neglecting to speak of the things that scare them, parents will create a gap in their child’s mind, and for the young curious child that gap will be colossal, leading to a preoccupation exactly with the unwanted. This is because “people’s formulations of fear are also framed and focused…by the peculiarities of culture” (Johnson). The neglect of a fearful topic will therefore lead those curious children to become “morbid” adults in the eyes the mundane society since they choose to inquire into scary topics. We can often see transformation take place particularly in literature and film. Our morbid curiosity becomes the topic of many famous writers and filmmakers, such as Edgar Allan Poe, Stephen King, and James Wan. Artists of all sorts find their drive from the things they fear. And with that our society begins create a place for darkness sparked curiosity, and that darkness will help fill the void of future curious children. From all of that, we can gather that a negligence to discuss dark topics in cultures creates an inherent need in society to explore their fears. This exploration then becomes the work of the fearfully curious, such as myself.
A sociocultural understanding to why we’re interested in what we fear is not enough. Although we can theorize about how societies create morbid curiosity, there are psychologically proven reasons to why one may willingly inquiry into fear. My research on the psychological possibilities yielded one commonly agreed upon topic directly related the way in which the human psyche engages and responds to fear (in a way that sparks curiosity). Sensation-seeking is a defined characteristic present in those who take pleasure in their fears, these people have a “need for varied, novel, and complex sensations and experiences and [a] willingness to take physical and social risks for the sake of such experiences,” the “jolt of horror is exhilarating” leaving people feeling invigorated (Robinson et al). The acquisition of such intense emotion gives a form of refreshing eccentricity to mundane life without needing to necessarily be face to face with your fear (inquiring into fear is not the same as being directly placed in front of fear). This intense emotion is in fact our bodies natural response to external abnormal stimuli. A release of hormones such as adrenaline results in us feeling energized and alive, something our mundane surroundings no longer can do. The release of adrenaline is also tied with intellectual stimulation, which explains where one might get curiosity from. The link between releasing hormones in a stimulating situation and the acquisition of knowledge implants a tendency in our brains to seek that kind of “thrilling knowledge”. So one may not only want to inquire into their fears, but we understand why they want to come back for more, as their brains are now wired to gratify these stimulating experiences. An inquirer into the discussed relationship was Freud who “considered exploratory behavior to be determined by instinctive biological urges and ego mechanisms that served to reduce threat and insecurity” (Spielberger, Reheiser), which altogether states that acquisition of knowledge of the unknown is a biological mechanism to put one’s psychological fears at ease.
However, it was not only psychologists that reached the conclusion that curiosity of our fears is part of being a human. Acquisition of knowledge is a form of power, not so much over societies but rather over ourselves. Aristotle was the first person to define humans as “rational animals,” and because of that rationality our greatest calling is “the desire to understand”. Therefore, our craving to understand the world drives the exceptional curiosity we have towards the things we fear; because to be afraid is to be ignorant. This is where that power over ourselves comes from. We are no longer subject to our negative emotions towards the things we fear. We can rationalize, as Aristotle saw, the things we fear so they can transform from danger to knowledge, giving us the power to control them and ourselves.
I can conclude from this exploration that the relationship between curiosity and fear is more substantial than we are lead to believe. It is embedded in our societies and cultures, psyches, and in human nature. To inquire into fear is to satisfy our need to understand in all levels, allowing us to take control and gain power over ourselves. Therefore, it is not peculiar to be curious about the things we fear, we shouldn’t avoid them, rather we should manifest the unknown to drive us in our daily affairs. In that way, we shawl never be static in the mundane and will instead flourish into complex dynamic people.
Annotated Bibliography
Aristotle. Methaphysics. Inglaterra: Harvard University, 1947.
Book speaks about the nature of the universe and how it is structured. Used in the last paragraph to explore philosophical reasons to why we desire to know.
Cassata, Cathy. “Why We Like to Be Scared.” Healthline. October 27, 2016. https://www.healthline.com/health-news/why-we-like-to-be-scared#1.
Article looks in to different reasons why we like to be scared (mostly psychological). Used to spark ideas and further understanding of why one is included to look in to scary topics.
Deirdre D. Johnston, Adolescents’ Motivations for Viewing Graphic Horror, Human Communication Research, Volume 21, Issue 4, June 1995, Pages 522–552, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2958.1995.tb00357.x
Abstract of journal summarizes study that divides horror-watchers into different categories. Used in concluding sensation-seeking theory.
Johnson, Kirk. “The Things People Choose to Fear; Usually They Are Unknown and Uncontrolled, Not Near and Dangerous.” The New York Times. July 30, 2000. Accessed March 11, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2000/07/30/nyregion/things-people-choose-fear-usually-they-are-unknown-uncontrolled-not-near.html
Article proposes idea that what the American individualistic society fears most is what they can’t control. Used to develop sociocultural reasons to why morbid curiosity is created.
Lear, Jonathan. Aristotle: The Desire to Understand. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010. PDF.
Book analyses argument in Metaphysics. Used in the last paragraph to explore philosophical reasons to why we desire to know.
Lowenstein, George. “The Psychology of Curiosity: A Review and Reinterpretation.” Psychological Bulletein 116, no. 1 (1994): 75-98. Accessed April 20, 2019. http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/gl20/GeorgeLoewenstein/Papers_files/pdf/PsychofCuriosity.pdf.
Journal explores historical psychological research on curiosity. Used to contextualize sensation-seeking theory.
Pease, Marshall. “Fear and Curiosity.” Foundation of Mind-Being Research. January 1998. Accessed March 12, 2019. https://fmbr.org/fear-and-curiosity-pease-jan98/.
Journal editorial discusses the past and present relationship of curiosity and fear in our societies and cultures. Used to contextualize the sociocultural creation of morbid curiosity.
Robinson, Tom, Clark Callahan, and Keith Evans. “Why Do We Keep Going Back? A Q Method Analysis of Our Attraction to Horror Movies.” The International Journal of Q Methodology 37, no. 1/2 (June 20, 2014): 41-57. Accessed April 15, 2019. doi:dx.doi.org/10.15133/j.os.2014.004.
Study inquires into the different kinds of people who enjoy horror. Used in concluding sensation-seeking theory
Spielberge, Charles, and Eric C. Reheiser. “Assessment of Emotions: Anxiety, Anger, Depression, and Curiosity.” APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY: HEALTH AND WELL-BEING, 2009, 271-302. Accessed April 20, 2019. doi:10.4135/9781473981980.
Study inquires into intensity of emotion, specifically anxiety, anger, depression, and curiosity. Used in concluding sensation-seeking theory as well as Freud’s view on curiosity.
Wake Forest University. “Beauty has a dark side: Morbid curiosity explained.” ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120301083415.htm (accessed March 11, 2019).
Article answers and explains questions relating to morbid curiosity. Used to identify sociocultural reasons to how and why we create morbid curiosity.
