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Like Being Scared? Here’s Why

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Manage episode 516272179 series 2555353
Content provided by NPR. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by NPR or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.
Like haunted houses? Scientists do! That’s because they’re an excellent place to study how humans respond to – and even actively seek out – fear. In an immersive threat setting, as opposed to a carefully controlled lab, researchers can learn a lot about what scares people, why and how additional factors (like the presence of friends) might affect our experiences.
So what have they learned? What determines a good scare versus a bad one? And what’s the evolutionary reason for all of this, anyway? In today’s episode, producer Hannah Chinn heads to the haunted house in search of answers.
Have a seasonal science question you want us to investigate on the next Nature Quest? Email us your question at [email protected].
Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
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1380 episodes

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Like Being Scared? Here’s Why

Short Wave

1,080 subscribers

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Manage episode 516272179 series 2555353
Content provided by NPR. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by NPR or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.
Like haunted houses? Scientists do! That’s because they’re an excellent place to study how humans respond to – and even actively seek out – fear. In an immersive threat setting, as opposed to a carefully controlled lab, researchers can learn a lot about what scares people, why and how additional factors (like the presence of friends) might affect our experiences.
So what have they learned? What determines a good scare versus a bad one? And what’s the evolutionary reason for all of this, anyway? In today’s episode, producer Hannah Chinn heads to the haunted house in search of answers.
Have a seasonal science question you want us to investigate on the next Nature Quest? Email us your question at [email protected].
Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
  continue reading

1380 episodes

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