Schillah
08-23-2004, 05:52 PM
Hello, I'm Schillah reporting live from the Basement. Today's topic is on Revenge. Sure some might say revenge is cruel, but could revenge be a part of your genes? We take you to the Department of Research for more on this issue....
Department of Research
The pleasures of revenge
If you've ever been unceremoniously and insensitively jilted, or lied to, or cheated on, or bullied, or humiliated, or double-crossed -- by your (ex-) partner or anyone else -- you know the seething desire to exact revenge. According to some researchers, you aren't being nasty vindictive when you contemplate payback or manage to actually pull it off. You're doing something that's probably hard wired into your genes -- a self-protective, biologically rooted sense of justice. But the unexpected thing . . . is that revenge functions in the brain like an appetite. In other words, acts of retaliation and punishment are as satisfying as chocolate. No joke. For example, using brain-wave technology, Dr. Eddie Harmon-Jones of the University of Wisconsin has demonstrated that when someone is insulted, their left prefrontal cortex bursts into action. Which happens to be the same part of the brain that lights up when you're preparing to satisfy a hunger or a craving. And whether you take revenge or take a bite of your favorite piece of cake, the expression is pure pleasure. Among other points in this interesting article --
The nature of appetite-like urges is to err on the side of excess
What looks like masochistic or self-defeating behavior can be actually a deep desire to hurt someone who has hurt you
In a workplace context, most vengeful acts are covert, traveling in whispers, rumors and knowing glances
According to Dr. Robert Baron of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the ratio of indirect to direct acts of revenge is at least 100 to 1
The bottom line, according to University of Miami's Dr. Michael McCullough is, "Think of the urge [for revenge] as kind of hunger, a lust, a deficit the brain is seeking to fill, and you can see why revenge fantasies can be so delicious."
What are your thoughts on this? And tell us some of your revenge stories you have done to someone or have been done to you.
Department of Research
The pleasures of revenge
If you've ever been unceremoniously and insensitively jilted, or lied to, or cheated on, or bullied, or humiliated, or double-crossed -- by your (ex-) partner or anyone else -- you know the seething desire to exact revenge. According to some researchers, you aren't being nasty vindictive when you contemplate payback or manage to actually pull it off. You're doing something that's probably hard wired into your genes -- a self-protective, biologically rooted sense of justice. But the unexpected thing . . . is that revenge functions in the brain like an appetite. In other words, acts of retaliation and punishment are as satisfying as chocolate. No joke. For example, using brain-wave technology, Dr. Eddie Harmon-Jones of the University of Wisconsin has demonstrated that when someone is insulted, their left prefrontal cortex bursts into action. Which happens to be the same part of the brain that lights up when you're preparing to satisfy a hunger or a craving. And whether you take revenge or take a bite of your favorite piece of cake, the expression is pure pleasure. Among other points in this interesting article --
The nature of appetite-like urges is to err on the side of excess
What looks like masochistic or self-defeating behavior can be actually a deep desire to hurt someone who has hurt you
In a workplace context, most vengeful acts are covert, traveling in whispers, rumors and knowing glances
According to Dr. Robert Baron of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the ratio of indirect to direct acts of revenge is at least 100 to 1
The bottom line, according to University of Miami's Dr. Michael McCullough is, "Think of the urge [for revenge] as kind of hunger, a lust, a deficit the brain is seeking to fill, and you can see why revenge fantasies can be so delicious."
What are your thoughts on this? And tell us some of your revenge stories you have done to someone or have been done to you.