Badmovies.org Forum

http://sciencenordic.com/your-dna-loves-horror-movies

Apparently being a horror junkie means being highly evolved.

Of course.  :wink:

Either that or severely repressed/psychologically damaged!

lol. perhaps this guy should be starring in a horror movie, not analyzing them...

as with all psychology based analysis, the results seem a little too all-encompassing, and ignore certain factors.

for example, if a desire to watch horror films was due to "training our danger preparedness", then surely we would like all horror films equally?  for me, schlock factor, i.e. lack of realism in horror can be just as appealing as realism (which conversely can often seem boring). this would go against the findings.

maybe you could even argue that the concept of watching horror on a screen rather than in real life gives us the luxury of not having to engage our 'danger receptors', and turns it into escapist, voyeuristic entertainment instead of some kind of subconscious boot-camp where our survival instincts get sharpened.

The fact that I love horror movies and my parents absolutely hate them doesn't exactly make that seem obvious to me   :smile:

As a recipient of a psychology degree I really hate so called "research" like this. Firstly the article shows nothing indicating he has actually preformed any type of controlled experiment. Secondly he makes a point that our DNA is what makes us scared because it reminds of us of our natural predators. If this is true why are we so much more freaked out when we see the exorcist example but not even phased seeing real animals that could kill us (ie everyday discovery channel). The answer lies in the music, the atmosphere and the context, these are what scare us!

On the same lines the article suggests we are afraid of vampires due to our fear of sharp teeth. If this is true then why are people not scared of watching twilight. Is it because the teeth aren't as sharp? No its because the music, atmosphere and context are different for that series therefore creating a non horrific response from the audience.

There's few things that can get a fear reaction out of people more effectively than truly scary/dissonant music, does this suggest our biological ancestors were preyed on by scary tunes?

This is horrible non research and is among the reason I declined to stay in the field. Its largely full of idiots like this researcher trying to make a name for themselves without actually helping a single person with their work.

Not sure about horror, but I was shock to learn at a late age that my father thinks the Exorcist is the funniest movie he has ever seen.
-Ed

I always knew I was naturally awesome. Now here is proof.

Karma for this.  Welcome to the disillusionment-with-chosen-career club.   :cheers:

Yeah-it's McDonald's type science...fear is personal-nothing to do with DNA. The guy who stated so is a quack,obviously.
Fear is not inherited,I dont think so-it's taught. It's bred into you. Your not afraid of a dog untill it bites your ass.

I wonder about that, my daughter has never been around a problem dog, but she is almost paralyzed with fear around them .

In my opinion there is in fact a genetic contribution for some fears. Fear of heights, blood, and other things are certainly influenced by our genetics. What I'm saying is the interaction between environmental influences and genetics is too complex to make simple statements like "we watch horror movies due to DNA". The fact is that our DNA expresses itself in drastically different ways and our own thoughts and behavior's has the ability to in turn change our DNA. With this in mind conclusive statements like the one in the article are difficult if not impossible to make until more studies are done on the topic.

Maybe we can isolate this part of our DNA and build a super B-Movie Soldier Watcher.  MMMMMM  A superpower race of watchers!   :buggedout: :buggedout: :bouncegiggle: :bouncegiggle:

Later,

John