Seeing someone else's misfortune can be a mixed bag. Yes, we are sympathetic creatures as humans, blessed (or cursed) with the ability to empathize with others. But deep down, sometimes another struggle is just funny. After all, America's Funniest Home Videos wouldn’t be running since 1989 if we didn’t enjoy seeing another’s accidents. The Germans, as always, have a word for this, schadenfreude, or the feeling of joy (freude) at seeing someone fail/be harmed (schaden).

Unfortunately, scientists are here to ruin the fun. People with low self-esteem are more likely to experience schadenfreude, as they feel it brings others down to their level. Similarly, people with high degrees of narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy are more likely to feel it as well, as they tend to “struggle” with feeling empathy towards others. This is not to say that looking at these fails makes you a bad person, rather, that the impulse might just not be that benign at heart.

One doesn’t have to look far to find other, ample examples of content based on “fails.” As far back as 2008, internet pages were building and finding content revolving around misfortune, accidents, slips of the tongue, and other mistakes. While sometimes the content does seem cruel, examples like “That Looked Expensive” have mass appeal because the victims tend to be wealthy. A crashed sports car sucks, but if one can afford it, it might not feel as bad. 

There is also a degree of curiosity in seeing expensive things break. Most of us are not around supercars, yachts, and construction equipment, so seeing what it looks like broken down or on fire has a sort of novel appeal. This is an impulse older than internet memes. For example, US soldiers in World War Two sometimes expressed a fascination with destruction. They would enjoy exploring the burnt-our wrecks of vehicles and bombed cities.

In the modern day and age, this manifests as our curiosity whenever there is a traffic accident. It’s almost cliche to say things like “I couldn’t look away,” when we recall driving or walking past a car crash, but it does reflect a deep-seated inquisitiveness we have toward destruction. Many people will slow down, partially due to safety concerns, as one crash might be an indicator of risk factors in the area. 

Our brains are somewhat helpful in this regard. Relationally, a car crash, for example, or any other less common disaster is a bad thing. But our minds are clever enough to know that there might be important data, so they will want us to look. Our brains are more engaged when there is a negative emotion present, allowing us to quickly analyze the situation and learn whatever lessons there are to be learned. It seems that “smart people learn from others' mistakes,” is a core feature of our psyche. 

Our consciousness is also somewhat assisted by the knowledge that there are solutions. We live in a materially rich world, cars can be fixed or replaced, and buildings repaired. Many people have insurance. This knowledge helps us rationalize these disasters and turn them into a bit of entertainment. Yes, it probably wouldn’t feel great to walk outside after a storm, see your own ruined property and think “That looks expensive,” but even bad luck has its own sort of charm.

In fact, if a person can laugh at themselves, and by extension, their own misfortune, that is a sign of better emotional well-being. Plus, if you can afford something that is expensive to fix, you might already be in a better position than most. So finding humor in downright bad luck is a good way for the brain to rationalize what is happening and release a little joy in an otherwise unfortunate situation. So, if you want to explore others’ misfortune a bit more, Bored Panda has got you covered, check out our pieces here, here, and here.