ePinions

Why People Do Stupid Things

A friend of mine and me once talked briefly about the one time in our lives we’d been drunk (as teenagers), and we found ourselves wondering what in the world would make a person want to experience a hang-over more than once. He enjoys a glass of wine now and then, and I consume approximately 3-5 drinks per year - so we’re not anti-alcohol, but we’re of the opinion that getting drunk is just plain stupid.

The same day I read about Jarle Trå who at the time was hospitalized after managing to climb Mount Everest without extra oxygen. This short article about it (hard to find much about this in English) also mentions a few people who’ve died attempting to climb Mount Everest.

These things made me curious. Trying to climb Mount Everest is pretty stupid (extremely risky with absolutely no benefits for anyone, except bragging rights), doing it without oxygen is insane. Sky diving may be fun, but is, objectively speaking, stupid. Other things that are seen as fun, challenging, and entertaining, and still, yet again objectively speaking, really stupid are:

• trying to become the Ultimate Fighting Champion
• gambling with large sums of money
• getting drunk/high
• base jumping

And so on and so forth… People do stupid things all the time (yes, me too, though none of the things mentioned here).

Why?

The short answer is: Chemistry. Brain chemistry to be exact.

OK, not really news to anyone I hope - but I got curious, and wanted to know exactly how this works. It seems some people are natural thrill-seekers. The pleasure centers of their brains get a much stronger high from the release of dopamine than low thrill-seekers because their brains have fewer auto-receptors (cells that act as brakes to stop the release of dopamine). Since this high is so strong, these people are likely to do crazy things to make their brain release lots of dopamine. For the rest of us, it simply isn’t worth the risk because we don’t derive nearly as much pleasure from the experience.

Don’t get me wrong - I’m not saying these people are stupid. They just do stupid things far more often than the rest of us do, and more extreme things. Of course, there are exceptions, like fire fighters who get the same high from rescuing someone from a burning building, all the while saving someone’s life. They don’t do it just for the high, of course, but I’m willing to bet (not money, that would be stupid) that the high is a big part of it. That’s fine. They’re taking huge risks, but the rewards are equally great. Sky diving for fun is only slightly more stupid than cutting yourself all over the place with a sharp knife and then going swimming with 50 hammerhead sharks ‘cause hey, at least the sharks get a good meal out of it.

If you’re getting the impression that I think doing something very risky, for nothing but a dopamine high, is selfish and stupid - then you’re spot on. But hey, it’s only human. We tend to have trouble with rationality from time to time. Also, once in a while an extraordinarily dedicated thrill-seeker will advance technology in order to get more out of the experience, and sometimes that advancement can be applied to other (useful) fields of study. So it’s not all bad all the time, just most of the time.

These thrill-seekers are, sadly, much more likely than the rest of us to use illegal drugs and to commit impulsive crimes. It’s not their fault, they’re wired that way. For them to stay on the right side of the law, a high degree of self-control and moral integrity is required. Most high thrill-seekers have adequate amounts of these personality traits to keep out of serious trouble, of course, but those who don’t often end up committing crimes that are seemingly without reward. Their reward is actually the high they get from trying not to get caught or killed. There are other, psychological, factors in play here too, as in all things human, but chemistry plays a significant role. Since a lot of these crimes are impulsive in nature, high thrill-seekers who tend to live in the grey (or black) areas of the law, should at the very least make sure they eat healthy to ensure a steady supply of serotonin, and in extreme cases might benefit from serotonin-enhancing medication, because it helps control our impulsivity and decision-making process.

While reading up on all of this I had a thought: Could bungee-jumping, sky diving, or preferably something equally dopamine-generating but more useful, help keep some criminals from reoffending and drug addicts from relapsing? That combined with some courses on self-control and on-the-spot consequence analysis might do a lot of good. I’m quite sure I’m not the first person to think of this - so it’s good to know there is a viable treatment for these people to replace the in-and-out-of-jail loop.

This is all quite fascinating stuff, and if you’re interested I highly recommend this short article explaining the dopamine/auto-receptor thing, and this article on dopamine high in relation to gambling, and this article on the “Arousal Theory” of criminology.