Lessons from a terrified horror researcher | Mathias Clasen | TEDxAarhus
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- Опубліковано 27 лис 2017
- Horror researcher Mathias Clausen tells us the science of why we love to be scared half to death. Mathias Clasen is a specialist in horror media and has spent years getting to the bottom of the paradox of horror: Why do people seek out the kind of entertainment that’s designed to make them feel bad?
Drawing from research on human cognition and evolution, Mathias argues that our appetite for horror and our fascination with monsters run deep in our nature.
Horror entertainment serves important functions for us by satisfying a deep-seated need for imaginative experiences with scenarios of danger.
Despite his sustained professional engagement with the genre, Mathias still cannot watch a horror film alone. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx
I'm studying, how watching horror movies can actually help people with anxiety. It can be thought that the adrenaline dump, that occurs during a panic attack, can be released through viewing some types of horror films.
Is there a correlation between anxiety and being bored out by horror movies?
Or the other way round: loving horror movies but having several anxieties?
Just curious since I seem to know both type of people.
If a fear cannot be articulated, says Mr. King, it cannot be faced.
I hear alcohol can help with anxiety too.
@@innerpull so can xanax, sadly we can't live a functioning life for very long taking those daily
@@Uhraya I hope so, but what type of horror movies? Will jump scares help? Will happy endings help?
"Palms are sweaty..."
MOM'S SPAGHETTI
beat me to it
knees weak arms are heavy*
There's Flintstones on the TV already
Is that from a Sesame Street song or Muppets? Sounds familiar but I can't place it
@@jumbo4billion emenem
I haven’t been kept awake at night from a horror film in years. But I recently watched ‘Lake Mungo’ and that really got under my skin. I felt a sense of terror throughout and I’m not even too sure why. There aren’t any jump scares, it’s all very subtle which makes it even more disturbing. I definitely recommend it.
You're not alone. I recommend the film to anyone that'll listen. It stays with you, genuinely haunting.
Most horrors on't scare me but Lake Mungo totally got under my skin as well. The reason why it works so well is that it uses the documentary form to maximise the realism which in terms compounds the horror effect. By having realistic characters to tell the story combined with "found footages", it feels like the kind of thing that could happen in your neighbourhood or even within your house. Another one I highly recommend which does the horror mockumentary so effectively is the Japanese film Noroi The Curse. While it is more fantastical/less realistic it still has that creepiness in spades.
The 'phone' scene. If you know you know 😉
It is a great mockumentary and I remember it very well, despite only having seen it the once when it came out.
And speaking of horror films that may have not kept me up at night (but certainly rattled me enough to NOT try and think about it going to sleep), I watched the excellent found footage horror, 'Host' from 2020 last night. It's been on my radar and I'd forgotten about it, but then I remembered that was one on my 'to-watch' list so decided to watch it yesterday evening. I love horror, always have, but I'm not a fan of jump scares/loud noises etc. It does fall into the cliché of doing that in places. BUT....the imagery and just sheer concept of WHAT is causing those scares? *BRRRRRRR!! 😵 I highly recommend it to anyone who cares to see it, it's both a fantastic flick AND an exemplary example of real guerilla film-making (it was done over 8-12 weeks over lockdown - watch any of the interviews with the uber-talented cast and crew after you see the film)!
I like watching horror movies because they make me scared for hours afterwards, which means I'm feeling something. I eat spicy food for the same reason: I can taste it for hours afterward
I work in customer service. I usually sympathize with the 'monsters'
Haha
lasrber 🤣🤣🤣🤣 yep the public
lasrber Hahahahahahahahahahaha!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Yea I sympathise with the humans too. Wait, you did mean humans by that?
the thing is everyone who reach customer support is for sure angry and frustrated they are no better than zombie's
Low-key his quiet voice freaked me out. Like I was waiting for something terrible to show up
...like a zombie.. muahahaha
me too, i kinda expected a jump scare, lol
I was really invested in the topic but man it took effort not to let that narcoleptic presentation style put me off. Come on guy, drink an espresso, do some jumping jacks, eat a ghost pepper before you get on that stage.
wow the fact that this dude had a zombie come out mid-lecture was absolutely incredible and awesome
The horror of mouth noises on every ted talk.
And don't forget the nose whistles!
Nah fr y’all killin me lmaoo
yea like how horrified is he of the water bottle lol
The attack of the overly moist mouth.
Somebody get this man a drink!.
How can a film be scary when life is full of horror.
My cousin and I have had pretty crazy rough lives. We watched Hereditary the other night and she nor I was scared at all. We both decided we had lived through so much we were pretty immume to anything we could watch in a movie.
@@tracieday8661 Hope things improve for you both.
@@John-mz8rj Thank you!
@@tracieday8661 Jeez...I was gonna make a joke about life being terrifying, but now I feel bad.
Agree. I watch films and know they're acting. Watch the news and you can't tell.
The problem with this theory is primarily due to the horror movie score or soundtrack. If you watch the Shining or Jaws without the score, the movies aren't nearly as frightening. What would the score have to do with our ancient past? Shouldn't a snarling lion sound be one of the most frightening things to us, if we've evolved to have our bodies just react to that? But a lion roar isn't that scary at all, but an alarming soundtrack can freak you out even without the movie.
i remember seeing a program about this - they first showed people creeping thru a dark house with a scary sound tract... then the same clip with "tip toe thru the tulips" playing and it wasn't scary at all.
Completely agree that a large part of the horror is thanks to sound! There are many audio tricks that are used in horror soundtracks and sfx that relate to ancient fear factors. Low rumbling noises remind us of creatures larger than us as it's getting ready to strike. High whines and buzzing remind us of dangerous insects and flies (association with death). Also drones or rain can act like dark for our ears, essential masking potential threats from us until they are too close.
Yeah lions arent really hunting humans. Most of the times, if a lion crosses paths with a human, it will simply change its course. It wont actively seek to eat a human UNLESS its VERY VERY hungry or feels threaten or has tasted a human before.
Have you ever heard a big cat roar in real life? Honestly, I never expected to have this reaction, but on hearing a tiger roar the hair on my skin stood up. Researchers have discovered that people react to the inaudible infrasound in a big cat's roar. It doesn't come across on TV.
Jeff Kunze - I bet if you were in the African wilderness and you heard a lion roar, you would be scared shitless.
When I got to the bathroom scene in “The Shining”, I was laying on my bed and from where I was laying I could turn my head and look directly at my bathtub. I usually keep the shower curtain drawn across the tub but after that scene I jumped up and yanked it back. Definitely slept with the bathroom light on that night, no shame. I’m definitely planning to read more King novels though!
😱😱👀👀
If only there is a job such as a horror researcher in my country it would be my dream job
Do it yourself. Study something like media or culture studies or anthropology, then after 5 years propose horror as your research subject for PhD. If university doesn't want to sponsor it, find another university. Or do it in your spare time, but do it better than those preparing their horror PhD. That's how you become a researcher of anything.
Francesca Pussini I'm already a media studies graduate ^_^ sadly the graduate educational system in my country's a bit different. We don't have focused jobs for media and focused grad courses for most undergrad courses :( We don't even have criminal profiling as a psych or forensics specialty option. Thanks, though.
wtf is a horror researcher
@@EpicBunty omg I imagined how you would say that out loud and I can't stop laughing
Sorry Valentine, but I had to chuckle...the thought of watching all those really bad horror movies, scares the be-jeezus outta me. I find most modern horror flicks to be quite dull, and as I posted in another comment, last I jumped watching a movie was "The Mummy", and only because some poor bugger had tripped coming down the cinema stairs right beside me ;o)
This was truly fantastic!
Amazing studies
wow, where did he captured that zombie specimen?
He found it eating his plants.
Jaws scarred me for life. I was ten and couldn't even swim in a pool that summer. I do not swim in anything but a pool for the rest of my life.
Only swim in a pool where I can see the bottom..
Feral Chicken My family made Jaws a tradition the night before we'd go to the beach. I actually enjoy being around sharks even more due to the movie.
You all are cowards! Except you, Alex.
You're not missing out at all. I don't like to swim and some people can't even swim.
The sea I bad.Things live in it.Things that wouldn't think twice about taking a chunk out off you.🦈
One of my favourite Ted talks of all time :)
Thanks for this video, I'm working with my therapist on being more gentle with myself. Since I have developed unrealistic expectations about my vulnerability and demanding goals or things that might achieve a robot, not the human I am. I'm looking forward to treat myself like a machine. This video helped me
I agree with this, and I must say, as an avid fan of horror films, that it was very fascinating to hear why we are drawn to such things from a scientific perspective. In my own life personally, I found it cathartic, and the reason that it was, I assumed, or at least part of the reason, is because it took my mind off of problems, worries, and concerns that I and the rest of us face as we navigate through life. I actually sleep well after watching a horror film, because instead of lying there awake ruminating and fretting over real life situations, I have burned all that stressful energy in watching a gruesome horror film. It certainly can be very psychologically therapeutic, and it was a pleasure to hear you explain it and lay it out so eloquently why, scientifically, we seek out horror even though it draws out negative feelings like fear, tension, anxiety, sadness, etc.
His voice is so calming. I want him as a narrator of a book or documentary
Watching this at 4:19am. Got spooked just listening to his telling of that scene from the shining
I watch horror movies when i'm having a stressful or a bad day they make me forget the present
Very interesting discussion. Thank you
Horror exposure can help build resistance to fear provoking stimuli, which can translate into emotional mastery over stimuli in the the real world. Interesting point of view. I like the segment on how horror/ Stephen King can bring on a "cocktail" of emotions. Interesting and relatable TEdx. Thumbs up!
yea?? well when i watch scary movies it only stimulates my fear and negative imagination!!
Jessie Lynne that's true I used to be to scared to even consider horror movies I now love and am barely scared and also used to be scared by my own shadow and every creek in the floor and couldn't sleep with the door closed but now I've gotten used to it and am less scared of all those things
@EpicBunty Do you conclude that doing push-ups can't make you stronger because you did one once and it only made you sore?
It can leave you numb though, you don’t react in an uncontrolled way anymore. nothing feels real
True...but “The Exorcist” messed with my sleep routine for at least a week! nope...that film made me less resistant, but on the whole I agree. I am an ardent horror and sci-fi fan especially ghost stories, excepting tweeny slasher films and the exploitation films or the 80s so-called snuff type films.....no time for such repulsion. yes I see it as a teaching medium I suppose....something that gets us in touch with our true primordial self I guess. Stephen King bases his stories around real life with fantastic characters and pulls you right into the story making the horror more relatable....
The scariest horror for me involves something very real about the human psyche. Horror inspired & an imagining of feelings such as loneliness, anger, confusion - those very real emotions illustrated via a monster or realm are terrifying!
Thank you!!!
So rad! Thanks!
I’m teaching horror to my freshman composition students in the spring. This is going on the syllabus. Wonderful talk!
I wish I would have had that option when I was a freshman! How cool.
Same here
Deborah Thornton
About 10 years ago, I was watching Frankenstein w/ Robert De Niro & my cat was up on my bed next to me. So, we come to a part where the intense music starts to build & this grabs his full attention. So Frankie is under a board walk and the girl is crossing on it & at the same time his hand comes up from below to grab the girl, the music hit the crescendo & my poor cat jumped about 2 ft. in the air, straight up & then ran into the closet as fast as he could go! Needless to say, I banned him from watching anymore scary movies w/ me!! LOL 😂 🧛🏼♂️🧟♂️👀🙀😿👻👺👽💀😳
Can you do a talk on conspiracy theories and those who enjoy them? Not believe them, but enjoy them like horror fans do horror movies.
easier to face a comforting lie, than a horrible truth which might oblige you to change your beliefs/ways
Probably the ted people... Maybe the guy who made the video... Couse, I doubt any of them cares enough, so probably just myself.
I agree. I love delving deep into conspiracy theories, though I only actually believe a small handful of them.
I like conspiracy theories, I always wanted to have a conspiracy board on my wall like all the nineties movies.
Sometimes a conspiracy isn't a theory but never you let the facts get in the way of that bubble of comfort we all wish we could live in. Some of us are very much aware of matters pathological skeptic will deny to their end of days, while that same conspiracy is the cause. Some people are so afraid to see the truth.
I watch horror, grit and grime because it gives me an idea of how much worse my world and my life could be. I’m generally a very happy and appreciative person and it comes down somewhat to the awareness of what I have.
Nah.
I just tuck in my blanket nice and hermetically-sealed, head to toe. It keeps the heebie-jeebies at bay
I’m at the point where I’m so desensitized to horror as a whole due to binging it since I was a kid that I treat it like a comedy. I havent been scared or anxious because of a horror film in well over 15 years. Still my favorite genre though and I’m still searching for that one game, story, or movie that gives me that feeling again.
I have serious anxiety problems but I also LOVE prosthetic make up and I enjoy applying these kinds of makeup.i really appreciate the view presented here
For me it's the adrenaline rush. It's a high. It makes feel so alive and everything is in much clearer focus
I like how decorations of the stage match the topic he's talking about, creeepyyyyyyy
Yes this is true people love fear, but just remember its you who gives it power!!!
I was deadass waiting for this ted talk to end with the zombie coming back to the stage and attacking him.
Times have changed a lot, but back in the day , fear of ghosts was a very real thing.. my grand parents had a fairly big bungalow , and they literally had a time table as to when one could go out in the garden , or when you could sit outside and stuff . everyone including my dad , aunts and uncles even family friends had witnessed things that are just impossible to explain rationally . Trees shaking violently , objects being tossed around , sounds of people walking about in the noon and at night ,when in reality there's no one outside.. now people just dont believe such things happened and sounds vague to them . but trust me back in the day Ghosts definitely, weren't joked about .
There is so much more to it. I like his research, but I've been going deeper into the reasons why Horror appeals to us on a psychological level more than a physiological one. Our fear responses have evolved and I delve more into how this evolution is expressed in modern cinema.
I also believe it has to do with whats going on in your life at the time
A well researched talk about why we like horror and scary stories. The scariest computer game I ever played is called 'Outlast'. It's scary because it relies on your own fears to scare you.
What a cool thing to be able to research!
"Anybody else has ever been in that situation?" Silence. I'm not surprised. I envy this dude, I love horror movies but I don't think I felt scared watching one since I was 13 or so. I think this is true for most horror fans or maybe even most adults. We watch horror movies because they are freaky, dark, campy, disturbing (not all at once obviously), and there's no obligatory happy end like in all Hollywood genre movies. But scary? Nah.
That’s right. Occasionally, I will feel a little bit creeped out. I think the last time I can remember getting close to being actually scared was playing Amnesia: The Dark Descent.
but if that becomes the norm all humans will be butchered by James
Nihil Quest the scary part comes when you're trying to sleep alone after a good one.
It's a rethorical question.
I just love the chills one gets from horror films
great insight
As a non-horror movie fanatic, I watched IT 2 a few days ago and hated it. But since then I’ve realized that now I want to watch the first one. It’s like the first time I went on a rollercoaster I didn’t like it but as I kept thinking abt it the more I wanted to relive it again
Dont know why I like this man.
So how can I become a horror researcher ? Best job 💪
Amber A-Totally agree with you on Lake Mungo, that movie truly made my blood run cold at the end & the best part is the movie has zero cheap jump scares, the closest it came to a jumpscares was when the girls parents show you the footage she took on her phone the night she went to Lake Mungo with her friends. As for why people like horror I think a lot of it is because the world can be a pretty frightening place for a lot of people & horror movies can help us come to terms with or at least cope with those real world fears by dealing with fictional ones.
nothing scares me now too, have to check out Lake Mungo
Give this man a glass of water. This is horrifying!
ROFL 🤣
Right oh, off to see 'IT Chapter Two' now.
I’m going tomorrow when my wife gets home from a business trip and went to see the new Gulliarmo Deltoro movie last week
This should have more views.
Life & the freaks that are out there are more horrific than any movie or book you could imagine.😨
Awesome.
I needed this one
🎒💭🦊⚖️🦋
I am middle aged and thought I couldn't be scared by movies anymore, but recently I saw a couple from 2016 and they were effective. Don't Knock Twice and Autopsy of Jane Doe. I am glad the era of Saw and torture movies seems to be ending. Good horror does not require a big budget. Tip: Go to a drive in...
Oculus, Hereditary, a Dark Song, and Susperia stick out to me as profoundly disturbing. Jane Doe was excellent.
Hereditary is probably the most unsettling for me as a family man
"Horror" is two syllables my man. Please.
Horah
Without his pronunciation we wouldn’t get the wonder of the subtitles though
Horror fans = orphans
...Seems legit.
meh, could be one
Zeke Bartlett whole time I thought he was saying ORA
Ok, the zombie walking across the stage was worth the price of admission.
love my horror library and books stories out there are so vast,😮😱😱
I just like seeing that I’m having a better time/life than the people going through the horror situations
I’m hooked on those “I shouldn’t be alive” shows for the same reason
Q: what makes some horror movies better scarier then others? film makers would like to know
Game producers, too!
The best horror films and this has been my experience as a horror film viewer are those that feature actors who carefully plot in advance to avoid being captured in the drama of real life politics, and thus the epidemic of actors crossing ethical boundaries. The authentic horror actor abstains from perception management, forcing you to manage your own perception of the film you´re watching.
For me, what makes a good horror movie is one that by the end of it i can be convinced that whatever happened in the movie could happen in real life and possibly.. even to me.
I often myself very bored during the horror movies that are not based off true events. Those just seem to grasp my attention way more
Absolute ❤❤❤❤
The world already is threatening and scary. Horror entertainment is where horror should only exist.
Horror films make you feel alive and also desensitize you. That's all he had to say.
Interesting that he's decided to go into this unusual "subset" subject of research. Extremely interesting talk! And he is so cute, huggable and funny. ❤️
bruh
Lol... I literally sleep to Creepypastas every night.
For me it was Randall Carlson talking about worldwide disasters. But now I'm hooked on old BBC radio horrors. Especially anything related to m r James.
I thought I was the only one. The scarier the better.
Same here. Check my playlists lol
Same, but I'm dead inside. You?
Same lol
Good talk good research good zombie
If a movie scares me that much and traumatized me a lot I make an effort to keep watching it until I am not scared of it anymore and it holds no power over me anymore
Switch on auto generated English captions and skip to 7:58
You can thank me later
Well it does sound like that's what he's saying!
PS Thank you
Awesome
Everything he described in his opening diatribe, was exactly how I felt watching 'Host' (2020) last night 😅
WHY do I/we do this to ourselves?!
I have read all SK Books and have the Alien (xenomorph) tattood on my upper arm. yes, I can relate to this ted talk. 😁
I’m a Cthulhu cultist myself and enjoy contemporary cosmic horror above all other genres
Cat Zulver
I too, can say very proudly, that I have read & own, every single book Mr. King has ever written, even the books & such under his other name ( which totally escapes me here at 3:48 am! LOL) And I bet your tattoo is awesome!!! I myself have Darth Vader & it’s my pride & Joy!!
I like to watch action/adventure/thriller with scenes of car crashes and buildings falling and sometimes war and have watched lighter kind of horror. I was hooked on a Kdrama called 'The Night Watchman's Journal' and 'Scholar who walks the night'. Vampires and zombies have gotten mainstream and not that scary to most people. I think it's a matter of degree and people's fear threshold. I like some thrills and scares but I can't deal with deeply disturbing and horrifying stuff. Also, I think it makes a big difference that in many thrillers, bad people tend to get killed.
I love horror, but not because it frightens me: I tend to relate to the monsters rather than the protagonists - I find myself rooting for the beats to tear the humans apart!
Very interesting talk. It’s room 237, not 217, but still a terrific video.
Makes me wonder if the ones that dont like the horror art experiences are the ones who live in horror experiences everyday...
Excellent! I also really like a specific kind of horror as lovecraftian or cosmic horror which I attribute to my fairly solid atheism. I’m a non believer while still being evolved for religious magical thinking and cosmic horror does have very big implications of life and death and worlds beyond this one like any good religion
Watching horrors make me feel alive
Watching horror movies for me is how i encounter my shadow
This man has seen things!
"think Stephen King, Paranormal Activity and The Exorcist " oh honey, one of those things is not like the other
Uh... which one?
maco de blacko the exorcist of course. we all paranormal activity was a film artwork
Like a rainbow with all of the colours..
nick23900
Can’t say I’m totally on board w/ that, but I do absolutely love the whole series of them 👻. 🎥 🎨But artwork?? 🤔Meh, I wouldn’t go that far.
For me terror and fear is ruding a roller coaster. I'm 70yoa now and my last rude was when I was 15yoa.
😕😞
I have a friend who worked in a hospital, she loves horror films the blood thirstier the better and she gets a kick out of eating her lunch around dead bodies. She could always be found sandwich in hand in the mortuary . She's one sick puppy.
I used to _HATE_ horror.
I would never watch it or read it.
Now I can’t get enough of it.
Bianca Bloom
What changed do u think?
I thoroughly enjoy media that makes me have extreme emotional responses ..which isn't very hard nowadays.. as I find that I'm quite a sensitive empath. As far as the horror industry goes I would rather watch a psychological Thriller over almost any other subgroup.
THANKS!! Did I say "BRILLIANT"!? Well, You Are. Thanks for posting........cheers
Like the final sentence - "Anyone for a war film tonight?" - For we the Human Beings are the greatest Monsters of all !
That's what I thought he said. But I listened to it again more carefully. I'm pretty sure he actually said "anyone for a horror film tonight?".
he didst say that but that would of been great
When I was younger I wasn't allowed to watch horror movies. I did read books of ghost stories though. And when I left home I wondered if the horror genre would be like the ghost stories, but the majority weren't. It seems most horror is hack and slash films. Violence. I had pictured horror being more like "Ghost Whisperer", and I was interested in the idea of helping all those people who were said to have a haunting. I have read that some horror is inspired by real events. And some would say horror is an expression of the darker side of humanity and in watching horror, people avoid acting on such impulses. I think watching enough of it desensitizes a person to it. I don't know about anyone else, but when exorcist came out it supposedly scared people a lot. I have trouble staying awake to watch it. It's a film I could probably put on to fall asleep to. My mom used to say that there is no need to watch horror movies, the world is full of enough horror as it is.
A DC fan: points at lecturer
*is this Johnathan Crane?*
how many variations of ted are there at this point like damn there’s probably a tedxpeepeepoopoo independently hosted ted talk ✊🏼✊🏼
TedTed is my favorite where researchers research the researchers
I love horror , I’ve loved it since I was 6! I’m the biggest horror fan I know lol !
Esra Dogan get in line behind me 🖤
The only thing that makes me look over my shoulder when watching a horror movie is the surround sound lol
I know why i watch horror films. I am well aware. Younger, it was curiousity and later the thrills. Older and very much stressed and depressed in life, it's just to know i can feel and react, in the end, just avoidance of mundane.
And important. Like any horror genre crime stories, it brings negative emotions, paranormal brings unnecessary fear so i normally limit my watch.
I see horror films all the time especially the paranormal ones .it's fun actually
What can be more horrifying than the World we currently live in? Especially for those who are awake.
The world a hundred, thousand, or one hundred thousand years ago?
Check out the documentary "Dominion", it's a reflection of what humanity is. It's just the tip of the iceberg with real life horror. You live in a horrorscape that pretends the movies it makes are more terrifying than the obfuscated, camouflaged horror of the world.
I wasn't scared of the slow zombies. When the move 28 Days came out, it was the first time I saw zombies run. That scared me.
Some people live in a denied state of terror !
By the way, you can see other animals besides us and cats make themselves look larger in certain situations. As an example, some birds spread out their wings and “puff themselves up” when dealing with competitors. This, of course, makes them look larger and helps them scare off their competitors. I see this at my bird feeders every year.
It would’ve been a long video if he had identified every animal with this adaptation
Negative humans requires a gambit of emotions iot maintain a healthy functioning mental and physical paramaters for life. We see this get out of whack in various form of addictions, and pathology that attempt to feel different than now; cause we lack these varied expressions of emotion.
Who else's anxiety went up because the speaker didn't run from the zombie😂
I was hoping the zombie would tackle him and drag him off-stage. Oh well...
Maybe horror is a way to feel good by safely confronting fear. Sort of like being tickled can be a fun way to be attacked where we're physically vulnerable.
🕊