Why You Watch Accidents

[O'nus]

Why do we watch car accidents? The answer is simple and complete; because you care about your fellow human being. Why does the matriarch of the wolf pack hesitate before killing a dog that has opposed the pack? Why do snakes hesitate seconds longer to kill a fellow snake than any other animal? This is because species naturally care about your fellow species. You want to know if or how you can help in a car accident. You care about them. Furthermore, you may also want to learn from it yourself to see if you can avoid the mistakes that they did or avoid the scenario that they were in. Naturally there are many facets to car accidents. Here are some to consider: Just-World Phenomenon: This should be covered first. There are many people who fear airplanes and roller-coasters and there has been a plethora of studies to investigate why. "I am not in control" The feeling of not being in control seems to imply to people that the incident is left to chance. The idea of rollercoasters and airplanes is that you have to rely on others and their vigor to maintain the vehicles. You have no direct control and if you did, you could rationalize "it will be ok because I am a good driver, etc." "I do not get in car accidents because I am a good driver" As we will soon see, this means nothing. Often car accidents happen because of extraneous variables that you cannot control and, the fact is, you are still human and prone to make mistakes. In addition, cars operate in a mass of other people and include a plethora more variables to consider when regarding a potential car accident; unlike a roller coaster. A rollercoaster does the same routine, on its own track, over and over again. It is monotonous and hardly changes which is the complete opposite of driving to work. "Bad things happen to bad people. Good things happen to good people. People get what they deserve." This is what many people wish were the foundations of life. (Namely religion). The fact is that bad things and good things happen to all people. No one gets what they "deserve" people simply get things. Running Away: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHampf1bbmE The humans most intrinsic response is denial. When someone causes an accident, they want to pretend like it did not happen. Denial makes the ego feel better. They may even justify, "I cannot even do anything anyway". However, they will live with the guilt for their entire life, bottled inside and infecting their mind to know that they did not stop to see if they killed anyone. Also, it is a crack at the just-world phenomenon in the sense that the person is likely to justify, "They should not have done that. I was doing the right thing, they were doing the wrong thing." Take note of this when you listen to peoples reasoning when it comes to conflicts and problems; you may be surprised just how ubiquitous this is. People Running to Help: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtJ6GGGkDBA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EorAX0YoJrQ This is simply further demonstration of how much people truly care about their fellow human being. Notice all the people coming to see if they can help? Next time you see an accident and find yourself gaping, question why. You may feel better about it. Why? Because often we cannot help due to the amount of others actually helping already. So, because we cannot, we may walk away in guilt because we did not contribute anything when we wanted to. The idea is to focus on your intention. Further, it is also a learning experience (ie. "I ought to get snow tires!") Powerless: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BM2gLjfE_3Y http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npTRXr4Sgxg Unfortunately, no matter how good of a driver you are, you cannot control everything. Your car may break down, brakes fail, run out of gas, another driver, icey conditions, are all variables that you cannot control that can easily cause an accident and your death. Do not live under this delusion and keep a cautious and content mind while driving. It was this very reasoning that actually quelled my fear of rollercoasters and made me feel more confident to drive. Speeding: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbdH-J6UoYI Of course, I am an advocate that people might actually drive naturally peaceful without speed limits. However, I am not going to sit here and say "Watch the limits! Do not speed!" but argue that you should not think to yourself, "My day is more important than others and I need to get to X before anyone needs to get to anything else!". There are many people who are off to do very important things. Could you use the same reasoning for a husband driving a woman in labour? How do you know what other people are doing? Because of their speed? What if they have slowed down for a purpose (ie. car problems, maintaining a calm ride for an anxiety attack, etc.) I just thought this would interesting to discuss. What do you think...? On another note: - Recent traffic psychologists (yes, traffic psychologists) have showed that wearing bike helmets actually increases your chances of getting hit. This was measured by the distance between took between bikers and their cars and how they reacted to helmet wearing bikers versus others. The reasoning is that you may unconsciously see a helmet wearing biker and think "they are a responsible helmet wearing biker and I can drive comfortably next to them" as of compared to "that person is not wearing a helmet and likely irresponsible. I ought to keep my distance." ~

[Merlock]

Care to elaborate on the relation of "watching car accidents" to reactions during/concerning accidents? When I first read the thread title I thought the topic would go along the lines of, "We watch the consequences of accidents, both gruesome and just plain curious, because..." -- I can't think of a reason but it seemed like you were about to throw accusations at some cynical human trait like gloating or whatnot. But apparently it isn't...so I'm just not catching how the very first idea in the topic ("why you watch accidents" with emphasis on the watch) relates to the rest of the content you've written.

[O'nus]

Care to elaborate on the relation of "watching car accidents" to reactions during/concerning accidents? When I first read the thread title I thought the topic would go along the lines of, "We watch the consequences of accidents, both gruesome and just plain curious, because..." -- I can't think of a reason but it seemed like you were about to throw accusations at some cynical human trait like gloating or whatnot. But apparently it isn't...so I'm just not catching how the very first idea in the topic ("why you watch accidents" with emphasis on the watch) relates to the rest of the content you've written. Oh, I would say that is similar to why you might watch a fight; waiting for the moment to intervene. However, fights are usually personal so you stay out of it whereas accidents are accidents and typically public. Does that clarify...? ~

[Merlock]

Not really... I don't see the connection between watching accidents (people who aren't actually in them) and reactions to accidents (when you're in them). At the beginning of the topic you're talking about watching them and throughout the rest of it you list off various reactions or traits that lead to reactions that can be expected from people that suffer accidents...

[O'nus]

Not really... I don't see the connection between watching accidents (people who aren't actually in them) and reactions to accidents (when you're in them). At the beginning of the topic you're talking about watching them and throughout the rest of it you list off various reactions or traits that lead to reactions that can be expected from people that suffer accidents... Oh, my apologies. I think the separation was made when I spoke about those that run-away. This is because these people are trying to separate themselves from the accident in order to make themselves feel better about it. The answer was simply because "you love your fellow human" and I continued from there on my own ranting, I suppose. For example, I did not touch on peoples response to accidents when they are the victims but the rationality that likely leads to many accidents (ie. the just-world phenomenon). If this is not clear, it could be simply because this was more of a rant rather than a report... lol ~

[ExoByte]

Very interesting, and I agree with a lot O'Nus, but to say we watch it because "we care for our own kind" I think is as wishful as "Good things happen to Good people, bad things to bad people." While that may of course be the case for some, and there are often a few in a crowd watching the accident or say fight for that reason, I believe that the majority of the time is that we as people simply enjoy chaos... Its the same in other cases, some people watch Roosters fight, or lions fight. Others like watching (unmanned) vehicles fly off cliffs or smash into each other, watching things blow up (even in the middle of no where) or watching fire burn, or watching buildings collapse. Its no different than our interest in accidents or fights, except that people are involved.

[O'nus]

Very interesting, and I agree with a lot O'Nus, but to say we watch it because "we care for our own kind" I think is as wishful as "Good things happen to Good people, bad things to bad people." While that may of course be the case for some, and there are often a few in a crowd watching the accident or say fight for that reason, I believe that the majority of the time is that we as people simply enjoy chaos... Its the same in other cases, some people watch Roosters fight, or lions fight. Others like watching (unmanned) vehicles fly off cliffs or smash into each other, watching things blow up (even in the middle of no where) or watching fire burn, or watching buildings collapse. Its no different than our interest in accidents or fights, except that people are involved. Very true. I would be inclined to say that people call into these categories: - those that watch to see how they can help - those that watch to try and learn from others mistakes - those that run-away because they 1) are selfish 2) caused the accident and want to deny it happened - those that are sociopathic or those that truly enjoy watching gore I would say that the majority fall into the initial two categories. However, I suppose the question is "by how much?" Agreed? ~

[Merlock]

Don't underestimate the plague of apathy in our society.

[ExoByte]

Once again, somewhat agreed. I can't totally disagree with you, you raise many fine points. Though, based on personal experience (which I admit may be very limited) it would just seem most fall into the 4th category(while I wouldn't quite of worded it in such a way ), though of course all the categories together, namely 1, 2 and 4, tend to slightly branch and over lap into each other in some way, even if just subconsciously. I'm having trouble wording my thoughts at the moment, I shall try to word things better later perhaps.

[O'nus]

Once again, somewhat agreed. I can't totally disagree with you, you raise many fine points. Though, based on personal experience (which I admit may be very limited) it would just seem most fall into the 4th category(while I wouldn't quite of worded it in such a way ), though of course all the categories together, namely 1, 2 and 4, tend to slightly branch and over lap into each other in some way, even if just subconsciously. I'm having trouble wording my thoughts at the moment, I shall try to word things better later perhaps. You're saying that the majority of people in the world want to see others tortured? ~

[A Humble Sinner]

Very true. I would be inclined to say that people call into these categories: - those that watch to see how they can help - those that watch to try and learn from others mistakes - those that run-away because they 1) are selfish 2) caused the accident and want to deny it happened - those that are sociopathic or those that truly enjoy watching gore I would say that the majority fall into the initial two categories. However, I suppose the question is "by how much?" Agreed? ~ I agree with everything else, I think it's great - but I think your wrong about the last one. People enjoy watching savagery, or if they dont enjoy it they are interested in such a cruel way it can be interpreted as such. It's just human nature to love an execution. They don't have to be sociopath - that's very serious and it isn't just liking seeing people hurt. Anyway, my point is, is, that it's basic human nature to be barbaric. Tjhat's why Victorian throngs crowded the scene of a hanging, thats why schoolchildren smirk to themselves when they see their classmates, their friends even, get into serious trouble. Hell, it's a major reason why everyone on the planet watches reality TV shows. Guilty as this makes me feel, I KNOW that if I saw a car accident, even if I felt sorry for the people in it etc. I would feel drawn in and, while not exactly enjoying it, I would feel drawn in to the point of maliciousness. I would be horrified, and enough horror turns into excitement. It's like hearing something outrageously horrible a friend of yours has done and crying "you didn't!" and, deep down, laugh just a little bit in something bordering enjoyment. Savagery excites humans. End of story.

[Marvo]

I watch car accidents, because it's out of the ordinary. It's first when I see a dead/badly injured person, that I remember actual humans are involved. If you get what I mean.

[ExoByte]

You're saying that the majority of people in the world want to see others tortured? ~ No, not at all. Thats taking what I said completely out of context, its why I said I would've worded category 4 better. Again, I think its an interest in chaos rather than anything. We don't want to see our fellow man be hurt, but we might simply find it interesting in say the case of an accident. For example, people watching the hanging of Saddam or other executions. Or the Romans and their battles in the Colosseum. I don't think its that we want to see our fellow man tortured, just that these things happening are interesting. Why do we watch action movies like 300 or Black Hawk Down or bloody and gorey movies like Saw or Texas Chainsaw Massacre? Why are we interested in hearing or reading about these things in the media? Even with people we hate. But its not just people, animals too. You hear about an animals head being severed and sent back to the owner in a box of candies as a "joke." You find it sick and wrong of course, but that doesn't stop you from reading about it. But it again comes to just plain watching things, objects, blow up, burn, smash etc. Watching animals fight or watching things break, buildings collapsing, or simply people fighting in a boxing ring with fans egging them on. I think the word I'm looking for is 'exciting' and 'interesting.' Its not to say one doesn't care for the people involved, or that they enjoy it, but I think we're drawn more to these situations out of interest and excitement more than our care for our fellow man.

[ExoByte]

True, though I'm more speaking in reference metaphorically (is that the right word?) here. The whole idea behind those movies is twisted pain and torture, so when I say blood and gore its more the idea of blood and gore. Though actual bloody and gorey movies (like the recent Saw movies), or say war movies (also fits into "action"), Saving Private Ryan and Black Hawk Down. The idea I'm trying to get to, is that we get to is that these things we find thrilling more than anything, rather than we watch them out of care for our fellow being. Anyway, I went a bit further than needed, sorry. I realize you were just pointing out the value of the original movies, I just felt I should take the opportunity to expand on the point.

[CrimsonWolf]

I would have to agree with one of Merlocks earlier posts here I don't think it's because we care; it's just because we are curious. Humans are curious about everything and in this case they want to see what happens. I've seen a number of accidents where people have just stood on the sidelines watching and not helping at all.

[NonDualistic]

By watch, you must mean, continuing to stand and watch after initially seeing the accident happen. Is that correct? And also, are you referring to first hand witnessing? IE being there at the scene as it happens, not watching it on TV. If it helps the discussion , My two sons 17 and 14 were following another car in front of them and witnessed that car being hit head on in a high speed collision. This was a first for both of them. They phoned 911, and proceeded to see what could be done to help the occupants of both cars. The person that caused the accident was helped out of his car. The woman in the other car was apparently killed in the collision. They couldnt get the doors or windows open to get the the child in the back seata which was screaming for its mother. They remained there trying to calm the child till the authorites arrived. I dont know as if any thoughts of "care" or " apathy" entered their minds. From listening to them such seemed like a purely unconscious reaction. Almost automatic. Such would suggest to me that maybe there is more here to look at than merely conscious decision making. I dont really know how a person would know how they would react until the circumstances were thrust upon them. I am sure I wouldnt..

[O'nus]

No, not at all. Thats taking what I said completely out of context, its why I said I would've worded category 4 better. Again, I think its an interest in chaos rather than anything. We don't want to see our fellow man be hurt, but we might simply find it interesting in say the case of an accident. For example, people watching the hanging of Saddam or other executions. Or the Romans and their battles in the Colosseum. I don't think its that we want to see our fellow man tortured, just that these things happening are interesting. Why do we watch action movies like 300 or Black Hawk Down or bloody and gorey movies like Saw or Texas Chainsaw Massacre? Why are we interested in hearing or reading about these things in the media? Even with people we hate. But its not just people, animals too. You hear about an animals head being severed and sent back to the owner in a box of candies as a "joke." You find it sick and wrong of course, but that doesn't stop you from reading about it. But it again comes to just plain watching things, objects, blow up, burn, smash etc. Watching animals fight or watching things break, buildings collapsing, or simply people fighting in a boxing ring with fans egging them on. I think the word I'm looking for is 'exciting' and 'interesting.' Its not to say one doesn't care for the people involved, or that they enjoy it, but I think we're drawn more to these situations out of interest and excitement more than our care for our fellow man. I entirely agree with this elaboration. I think this also functions on the idea that because these things do not happen so often we have a higher interest in them. Surely if we saw someone murdered everytime we left the house, we would not care so much to watch a murder movie or something else of the sort. Also, the ability to be anonymous and encourage violence will perpetuated the feeling of effervesence. (There's something to look up at www.dictionary.com ). ~

[A Humble Sinner]

I think that this is the best way to describe this: When we see a car accident we are curious. It's a brutal scene, and this brutality creates curiousity, interest and excitement in its own way. We aren't drawn in to the action because we enjoy seeing people we hurt, this special form of excitement savagrey arouses is why we are drawn in and why, to an extent, we enjoy it. I applaud your sons, NonDualistic, by the way.

[O'nus]

By watch, you must mean, continuing to stand and watch after initially seeing the accident happen. Is that correct? And also, are you referring to first hand witnessing? IE being there at the scene as it happens, not watching it on TV. I was ranting mostly about after it happens and for those that were likely the cause of it (such as those that run away). TV is completely excluded from my rant besides illustrating my points. If it helps the discussion , My two sons 17 and 14 were following another car in front of them and witnessed that car being hit head on in a high speed collision. This was a first for both of them. They phoned 911, and proceeded to see what could be done to help the occupants of both cars. The person that caused the accident was helped out of his car. The woman in the other car was apparently killed in the collision. They couldnt get the doors or windows open to get the the child in the back seata which was screaming for its mother. They remained there trying to calm the child till the authorites arrived. So we can say that it was a natural instinct to care for their fellow humans or say that they may have felt immediately obligated due to their proximity and involvement. Either way, they did not run away or just stand idly by watching. I dont know as if any thoughts of "care" or " apathy" entered their minds. From listening to them such seemed like a purely unconscious reaction. Almost automatic. Such would suggest to me that maybe there is more here to look at than merely conscious decision making. Exactly my point; your unconscious decision making is likely influence by an evolutionary influnece to help your species survive. Thus, you care about your fellow human being and want to help them surive. Also, as humans, we are simply more empathetic and also inclined to anthropomorphosis. I dont really know how a person would know how they would react until the circumstances were thrust upon them. I am sure I wouldnt.. I do know that in all incidents of emergency that I have been involved in, people freeze and are unsure what to do at first. However, once someone does start (and I pride myself being that person as often as possible) then these people are more than willing to help. I think that this is the best way to describe this: When we see a car accident we are curious. It's a brutal scene, and this brutality creates curiousity, interest and excitement in its own way. We aren't drawn in to the action because we enjoy seeing people we hurt, this special form of excitement savagrey arouses is why we are drawn in and why, to an extent, we enjoy it. I think you are right here. If we witnessed car accidents everytime we left the house, we would eventually not care a bit about it. A case of habituation similar to how many people react to beggars on the street; after a while, you exhaust yourself of empathy. I applaud your sons, NonDualistic, by the way. I second that. ~

[NonDualistic]

Exactly my point; your unconscious decision making is likely influence by an evolutionary influnece to help your species survive. Thus, you care about your fellow human being and want to help them surive. Also, as humans, we are simply more empathetic and also inclined to anthropomorphosis. ~ What about this preservation of same species motive? Is that it or is there really more to it than that? I live on a farm of sorts and I see different species responding to other species in helping ways from time to time, not to mention humans helping other species. All seems empathic . I wonder if there is somthing else at work besides or in conjunction with evolutionary influence? Perhaps something at a conscious level rather than a physical level, as if Consciousness transcends the physical species barrier. If so, perhaps such empathic tendancies are related to an archetype of or within the inner consciousness, and it is a degree of connection to that archetype that spurs on the unconscious empathic reactions? Inner consciousness as I have been defining it as of late....

[O'nus]

No, simply not true. I have read a large compilation of recorded execution times throughout many animals and they are always statistically significantly less when it is their own species. I would cite it here, but I am not in the library. I can if you wish though. This article, in conjunction with others, supports the special support claim in evolution; that species naturally care about each other. They will still be violent towards each, but not as violent as they are to other animals (you can compare how humans murder other humans to other animals to see yourself). What do you think...? Since I have no reference, I would, like you, naturally take what I say with a grain of salt. ~

[NonDualistic]

No, simply not true. I have read a large compilation of recorded execution times throughout many animals and they are always statistically significantly less when it is their own species. I would cite it here, but I am not in the library. I can if you wish though. This article, in conjunction with others, supports the special support claim in evolution; that species naturally care about each other. They will still be violent towards each, but not as violent as they are to other animals (you can compare how humans murder other humans to other animals to see yourself). What do you think...? Since I have no reference, I would, like you, naturally take what I say with a grain of salt. ~ I'm by no means disputing the statistics, or anything above for that matter. It just seems there is "something more" to this than meets the eye. I was just openly speculating the possibilities. All of the point you made are all sensible even without hard data. What I am approaching is the instances where the empathy steps beyond the species barrier. This is what I find interesting. It seems to me there may be a tie to eastern tradistions decsribing the "spiraling staircase", both up and down on the "evolutionary " scale of re-incarnation fom one type of form to another. This is getting to be light years off your original topic though.

[A Humble Sinner]

No, simply not true. I have read a large compilation of recorded execution times throughout many animals and they are always statistically significantly less when it is their own species. I would cite it here, but I am not in the library. I can if you wish though. This article, in conjunction with others, supports the special support claim in evolution; that species naturally care about each other. They will still be violent towards each, but not as violent as they are to other animals (you can compare how humans murder other humans to other animals to see yourself). What do you think...? Since I have no reference, I would, like you, naturally take what I say with a grain of salt. ~ I actually think the way humans murder other humans is worse that the way humans kill animals. And thats not for some "animals don't have rights" reason, even though it's related. Humans kill other animals because, in their eyes, humans are superior and have a right to do this. Or animals don't have rights. It's simple harvesting, or, in extreme cases, sport etc. Again, that comes from thinking that other species have no rights. Now, I'd like to say that whether or not animals have rights is a different topic. The fact is, this is what happens, and why. And it would seem to back up the idea that we are species selective in our killing and take care of our own. But in fact, killing humans is worse. Because when we kill animals, we are simply asserting what we feel is our right. There's no hatred involved, no unthinkable brutality that comes with murder. And that, that absence of motive, or really a negative one, is my whole point. When humans kill other humans, those actions are the result of negative emotions and motives. In fact, when we kill each other, we show that, not only do we not care about each other, we hate each other. Yet when we kill animals, there is no negativity apart from this unthinking assertion of godly powers. Even with that, it can still be shown that humans are obviously more vicous towards one another than to animals. Vicousness requires thought, which makes vicousness a bolder statement of hatred, not caring than merely killing without a second thought. So in fact (conclusion, sorry it took so long), we are more vicous, we are more violent and we do care less about each other - we do not necessarily care more about each other. Our levels of vicousness in regards to humans and animals prove that.

[Adam]

I think it is more to do with our compulsive morbid curiosity. [queue Wiki] Our own excitement and fear, to know about macabre topics, such as death and horrible violence. In a milder form, however, this can be understood as a cathartic form of behavior or as something instinctive within humans. According to Aristotle, in his Poetics we even "enjoy contemplating the most precise images of things whose sight is painful to us." (This aspect of our nature is often referred to as the 'Car Crash Syndrome' or 'Trainwreck Syndrome', derived from the notorious inability of passersby to ignore such accidents.)

[A Humble Sinner]

I knew there was some sort of psychological definition for it! .... If that's even it. I'll check. What you said sounds like one part of what we've discussed (mild inexplicable interest) found at some car crashes and not the other part of what we've discussed, the excitement of savagery that would be found in the Colossuem or a Victorian hanging, for instance.