We appear to be obsessed with misery. The number of shows you can watch depicting horrible crimes carried out by loved ones or perfect strangers points to this fact. I recently stumbled upon a Dateline channel on Sirius dedicated to providing listeners to the gruesome details of one murder after another. I’ll admit to listening for longer than what can be deemed healthy, but it’s really easy to get sucked into the depravity of it all.
Personally, I think channels like Dateline and other shows about crime exist to do one thing: they make us feel better about ourselves.
Think about this in the context of anything having to do with a neighbor, friend or loved one. It’s very easy to say, “I’d never do that,” or “wow, that was a stupid decision. I’m so happy that’s not me.” If these words have never crept into your mind, you’re a much better person than me or the majority of us on the planet…