I’m going to be the ‘tenth dentist’ here and say eating spicy food.
I understand that eventually people build a tolerance so it hurts less but I can’t comprehend being willing to even reach that point, especially since it’s still not completely pain free I have been told.
Those I’ve asked say it’s a really good flavor, but to me that sounds like being willing to eat a handful of broken glass (assuming no long term damage) as long as it tastes good. There are other foods that taste good and don’t hurt, not even slightly.
I see where you’re coming from, but you have to consider - THAT is how good it tastes, that people are willing to eat it even though it hurts. Other foods taste good, but I wouldn’t eat them if they hurt me (if my teeth are sensitive, I’m happy to avoid ice cream even though I love it). But if I overdo chilli, my mouth can be on fire and the hardest part to deal with is not the pain, but the tension between waiting a minute for it to calm down or eating more immediately even though it’ll make the pain worse.
Spicy food is so good people will put themselves through hell to eat it. Repeatedly.
Huh. Yeah, still can’t imagine a flavor that good.
And even very mild spicy food strikes me as less flavorful than without the capsaicin, mostly because of the (even slight) pain taking my attention from the food itself.
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If your spicy food has no flavour other than heat then that is a chef problem. Thai food has incredible levels of flavour. And is also very spicy.
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Are you allergic or something? It’s not that it hurts, it’s just heat
Just sensitive. There’s an extremely small range between nothing and pain where maybe it feels like heat to me, but then physical heat also just becomes pain when there’s enough of it.
I am a masochist
I’m actually curious if you mean that literally - in another thread we came up with a theory that enjoying stuff like BDSM, etc and enjoying spicy food could actually be linked by how sensitive someone is to endorphins.
I’m likely not at all sensitive to them, so for me pain just doesn’t lead to pleasure (besides trivial things like scratching an itch)I do enjoy the feeling of pain but it’s not particularly sexual tbh, if I had to compare it to something else I’d say it’s a sort of sensory seeking thing? Idk
I find that really interesting - and can’t relate to it at all. I suppose if what I do counts as sensory seeking it goes in the opposite direction (I mean porn) but pain is definitely a pure negative for me that I do my best to avoid.
I think there might be something to the endorphin theory (and my apparent lack thereof)
Plus spicy isn’t even a flavour. It’s the sensation of heat receptor nerves being chemically stimulated.
I fully agree, to me it doesn’t add any flavor at all and even overwhelms other flavors the food would have.
But it’s kinda funny that the comment my client currently shows directly below yours says “The pain itself is a flavour!”
IIRC it produces endorphins, though for a significant amount of folks not well enough that they’ll subject themselves to it.
That part doesn’t make sense to me either - people don’t generally intentionally stub a toe or bite their tongue or whatever, but those activities would release endorphins also.
Exercising is about as close as I can think of that people regularly do and releases endorphins, but it of course has direct benefits and not doing it has drawbacks, and it should not really hurt that much to begin with.
Getting a tattoo would also, but I assume most people do that for the result and not the experience.
It’s funny you mention tattoos - my favourite part was the huge endorphin rush it produced. I’d wager the whole tattoo ‘addiction’ thing tattoo artists and the heavily inked are familiar with is usually endorphin based, with aesthetics serving as justification.
You’re right about stubbing a toe or biting your tongue, but there are other activities people engage in that involve a direct seeking out of pain (Drag’s in this thread talking about an unfortunate one, then there’s stuff like certain activities in BDSM play [which, a surprising amount of the time, isn’t always a precursor to sex], etc.). With enjoying really, really spicy stuff, there’s the stimuli [pain], the endorphin release, and the justification and side effects that may bolster justification (‘flavour’ even in cases where little is actually detectable beyond ‘mouth hot’; satiation after getting food in you, etc.).
I’m just some random guy speculating (I’m sure there’s studies somewhere, though tricky to do direct research ethically), but I imagine it goes something like this for a lot of folks in a lot of contexts:
Stimuli -> Pain -> Dopamine release. If dopamine response is greater than pain response, is a good thing (then justified with reference to specific stimuli and context of stimuli). If pain response is greater than dopamine response, is a bad thing.
…reading it back I think specific type of stimuli, context, and the subject’s predilections are very relevant to this calculation, but not a psychologist or neurologist, so idk.
I like this theory, I wonder if liking spicy food is often correlated with enjoying activities like BDSM and tattoos and such.
I could just have roughly no response to endorphins - I know pain killers such as oxycodone do basically nothing for me (to the point that I don’t bother taking them when prescribed)
That would kinda explain a few things now that I think about it… Very interesting.
The pain itself is a flavour! Different spices hurt in different ways, and if you can build up a tolerance, it can be a delicious flavour!
Statements like that make me feel like an alien who just landed here: I believe you, but it’s so totally outside my experience that I genuinely can’t make sense of it.
I honestly used to be the same, the only reason I pushed through and built a tolerance is because I had strong salty food cravings when I started HRT. I was staying at a friends place and for salty all they had was a ton of spicy ramen packets, and I ate so much I got used to it, heh.
It doesn’t hurt if you don’t go too hard though, in my experience. To me at least hurting and burning sensation from spicy food are not the same.
Especially in Mexican cuisine chilis have each their own flavour and it’s this distinction that I enjoy. But I don’t go crazy on eating sole habaneros for example.
Sounds like you have built up a decent tolerance already.
That’s quite likely. I can’t really be objective in assessing this.
However my story is a bit different. I didn’t eat a spicy thing in my life until I went to Mexico. They I’ve immediately started with the carnitas and loved the soft from the get go. I don’t really recall the pain stuff. Again, unless I went way too much, which I don’t like.
It’s a (mostly) healthy way to engage in self harming behaviours
For me, eating spicy food calms me down. I suffer from anxiety and eating spicy food allows me to exist only in the here and now. I am of course not saying that everyone who eat spicy food is anxious, it is only my personal preference.
Normalise self harming with chili powder /s
That almost makes sense to me, the same way something like slapping one’s own face might.
Dancing.
I’m biased because I’m rythmically deficient, but it makes no sense to me. It’s just weird wiggling.
Worse still is clubbing, which is just dancing in a hot, sweaty dark room where the drinks are $13 each amd you don’t get to pick the music, or turn the volume down.
This might be the most boomer thing I’ve ever written.
The need some people have to be part of a group.
I’ve been “alone” for such a long time that it probably affects how I see things like this, but I just don’t get the need some people have. I’m thinking from things like worshipping a politician just to be part of a group to more simple things like needing to insert yourself into a group at work just to be “one of the guys.” I’ve always just done my own thing and never considered myself part of anything, whether friend groups, work “cliques,” or whatever. If it was “Tim, Tom, and Tina” I could be friends with all of them, but I never felt like I needed to be, or even ever was part of “their” group. I just come and go as the situation arises.
Some things like politics I obviously fall into one category or another based on my beliefs, but I don’t conform or alter my beliefs just to maintain a position within that group.
Using LinkedIn
Insisting to spend your attention on exactly 1 (one) significant other.
I can’t imagine being monogamous.
Rally 'round the flag effect
Like, why???
Its like… your parents have been abusing you for your entire life, and a sudden home invasion is gonna make you love your parents? 🤨
Nah, it feel like some weird movie/tv script where 2 people bond over a traumatic event, too cliche. Doesn’t even feel real.
It’s more like, you feel scared so you stick with what you know. Fear causes people to revert to a more tribalist mentality.
What’s this effect? Never heard of it
Example:
USA, September 11, 2001
Geeorge W. Bush’s approval rating went through the roof. It slowly drops, but then each time the US got a “victory” his approval goes up. The USA Patriot Act basically had no opposition, across the aisle.
When a country goes to war, internal conflicts (i.e. left wing vs. right wing) are forgotten, or at least put on hold, and everyone is suddenly on the same page.
Having or liking pets. Pictures of then I can see the appeal of, but the living beings are annoying at best or downright scary.
Never grew up with them, was always silently judged for being afraid of my classmates’ pets if I came over
I’m the total opposite. If I’m not surrounded by animals, I feel lost. I grew up on farms, so it’s natural for me to be among critters. I have quite the menagerie of my own. 2 dogs, 2 cats, and 10 ducks. I also informally adopted a horse, but I don’t pay for her bills. I just buy her things she deserves like a winter blanket and treats and other things like that.
Having a cat as a roommate, I understand. My arms/hands/ankles are especially unsafe around him… At least the 3-4am blood-curdling screams have stopped. He learned that screaming me into sudden half-awakeness doesn’t usually get him food, so I guess there’s less reason to do it. 🥲
I got a tiny terrier/Chihuahua mix dog last year and she is the best thing that’s happened to me in a long time. She is so adorable and funny and playful, and makes me look forward to coming home. She loves wrestling with her toys, and she sleeps next to me just about every night. She also helps me get outside and go on walks more.
How could I not like that??
My only issue is that we have to kill and make kibble from lots of animals to feed these carnivores. But I love my dog and my life and health is better with him in it.
Huh? Most dogfood is like chicken/beef. Humans eat that all the time. Pets aren’t special. Idk why you’d feel bad about that, unless you already felt bad about eating meat yourself.
I do. Not terrible, but you know… I think about it. While I enjoy my steak.
There is nothing like a good steak with mashed potatoes.
So many things wrong with this:
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You have a phobia about animals. They’re not all scary.
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Pets are literally proven to be beneficial for your health.
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The unconditional love from a pet melts my fucking heart.
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It teaches responsibility, especially for younger children.
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It teaches you to be gentle
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Not saying people have to adopt rescue animals but knowing that that animal would have likely been put to death is a sad/joyous feeling, after you realize that you literally saved their life and gave them a good and loving home.
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You’re less likely to be burglarized if the criminal sees a big ass barking dog in the window screaming at them.
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Other reasons I’m too lazy to think of.
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I have a close friend who is terrified of pets. She is embarrassed by it though and tells people she’s allergic. She grew up in a country that had a lot of free-range dogs and stuff outside, and I imagine that’s why.
She came over one day when we had three cats. She had never met a cat before. Everyone says this, but our cats are the chillest cute lil MFs ever… and they LOVED her. And she LOVED them. She was so shocked at how chill they were, and I think they could sense that she was nervous around them so they just loafed around her or showed her their belly (they love belly pets.)
She’s still terrified of dogs, which I get—they ignore personal boundaries. But having her meet our chill-ass cats warmed my heart very much.
One of the cats that I’ve been lucky enough to know in my life was quite simply the kindest, most lovable soul who has ever walked upon this Earth.
Everyone who met her loved her, and everyone she met, she loved.
Her heart was unaware of the existence of hatred, or cruelty, or guile, and she breathed the air of this world for 12 years having never experienced any of those feelings.
I promise you: there are connections that you can make with animals that can change the shape of your heart and the course of your life. It’s fine and no biggie if you never want to or get to experience that, but just know: some of the most beautiful hearts you might ever meet just happen to be animals. :)
Hmmm I think I will go with “fandom”, or being a fan of something. Like, I enjoy concepts. But there’s no universe or product or franchise or sports team or whatever in particular I would consider myself a fan of.
edit hope this counts as behavior lol
I’m the opposite, if it doesn’t interest me enough for me to know EVERYTHING, then it isn’t very good.
I could tell you so much about the lore and words of: halo, star wars, mass effect, video games from before my time, elder scrolls, D&D, homesick, undertale, STALKER, niche internet topics from my era…
I mean fandom can be general. the world science fiction society or whatever its called is basically at its core about written science fiction and not about one in particular and comic con is about any comic and gen con is about any gaming and anime cons are about anime. I get ya though. I mean I went to these things and when I was there I was like. This is my people. All the same though I always felt like sorta the biggest hanger on. I loved all the stuff but I like was no good with dressing up or whatnot. I mostly like to look around, go to interesting panels, and then spent all the rest of the time in movie or game rooms or con suite.
I never got plastering logos for whatever brands you love to consume on everything you own. Like buying decals and stickers and shit to put all over your car, laptop, whatever else. Since when do we pay to advertise for brands…?
u better BELIEVE i have a bad dragon sticker on my phone
Being a fan can make you part of a group. Especially great for people without identity. Slap a sticker on that empty personality!
Hate. Like I don’t understand how someone can hate others for the dumbest shit like race or sexuality or gender. Like, I don’t truly hate people easily, and when I do hate them, it’s because of their actions and/or words. Hating things/people is so exhausting. Idk how people can carry that shit around all the time.
I’ve had this struggle when writing a story, and writing racist villains; because to do so, you DO need to understand the broken logic in their minds, that still allows them to look sane for most of their lives.
They’re working off of patterns they’ve seen at various points, as well as learned wisdom from some people they’ve depended on and trusted.
In my day, there are people/movements that I hate, and I’d say very rightly so. I imagine the same things that make me feel that’s a “righteous/vengeful” hate look the same in their minds.
The trick is not to write racist villains, you need to write villains with targeted cultural hatreds, that way, even people who disagree can see why.
Why people use comic sans
(Don’t come at me, dyslexic people)
My girlfriend has a degree in design and the easiest way for me to piss her off is to remind her that comic sans is a thing that exists
Really, don’t come at him - Dyslexie Exists
And OpenDyslexic. And probably a few others.
Thinking that things they don’t enjoy should not be enjoyed by anyone else, and complaining bitterly about people enjoying those things.
Sport hooligans
This one hits a little too close to home. I always feel unsafe when going outside during a football match, especially if it’s between Raja and Wydad (two Moroccan football teams based in Casablanca with the most hostile fanbases I’ve ever seen). They’ve definitely killed the appeal of football for me.
I will say, as someone who does not come from a soccer playing country, it certainly seems like the worst sporting behaviour comes from soccer fans. You get it sometimes with American football and even more rarely with Australian football or rugby league, but 9 times out of 10 a story about violence erupting at or after a sporting event and it’s soccer hooligans. Even here in Australia where the audiences are tiny compared to our main football codes, the violence is likely to be with soccer.
I hate it when a small handful of people ruin the fun for everyone.
No one cares about other sports in my country so the football hooligans (or soccer hooligans as you call them) only get more attention.
Watch Green Street. It’s a fun and entertaining hobby.
Preferring looks over functionality.
So many things in today’s world are dogshit covered in a pretty wrapper and everyone eats it up. Meanwhile things that actually work well and last get ignored because they’re not pretty.
I’m not saying things can’t be pretty but you should never put form over function.
people that have more money than they could ever spend trying to accumulate more money
It’s not about the money; it’s about the power.
We stay hungry, we devour.
When I go to poor countries I tip/donate well beyond what I’m told is normal, because $10 or $20 is nothing to me, but potentially more money than they’ll earn in days/weeks. It always makes them so happy.
What happiness I would make with a billion…
When I went to Puerto Rico (same country, poorer area) my wife and I went on a guided paddle boarding ride that included him teaching us how to paddle board, then paper boarding, we met a couple wild manatees who came right up to us, then we went snorkeling. I believe he did groups of up to 6, but there were 2 no shows and 2 empty spots so it was just my wife and I for a 2 - 3 hour trip and was an absolute blast. I don’t remember how much it cost, probably $60 - $100 each range. At the end we tipped him like $40 and it looked like he was going to cry. I honestly thought tipping that much on a guided tour like that was upper end of normal, but his reaction made me think he doesn’t usually get tips like that.
And that’s why you’ll never be a billionaire. See how that works out?
Nah, that’s not why. A billionaire can give millions away without any impact on their life.
There are two paths to becoming a billionaire. The first is to hit the Goldilocks zone of a good product with mass appeal, good distribution and to have significant ownership of it. The second is to already BE rich. Most billionaires are the second one.
I don’t think that’s the reason. It is part of it, but the main reason you’ll never be a billionaire is that you would need to take from people.
I think there’s a number of different aspects to this that could put it in context.
Yes there are a few obscenely wealthy people, like a dozen in the world, for whom it’s just a game and pretty meaningless. For the remaining merely wealthy people:
Your means increase as you move through life and your responsibilities, commitments, and tastes also increase. I might earn 6 times what I did when I was 20, but now I’m supporting a family et cetera. This same dynamic effects wealthy people in a similar but different way. People tend to live beyond their means. Someone making several million a year might end up with a few holiday homes, a mistress or something, a bunch of truly expensive hobbies (like… a horse stud farm or something). They might realise they’re “wealthy” but unless they earn a bunch more money they won’t be able to race their horse in qatar or whatever thing they desperately need to do to validate themselves.
Another aspect I’ve heard of, is that wealthy people are often anxious of losing everything. If you have a business that earns millions, it’s sensible to worry that the market might change and suddenly it’s worthless. This is the reality for the majority of businesses that are not publicly traded. As in, great grandpa formed a company that made squillions of dollars selling woollen socks during the first and second world war, but by the 80s it was really just ticking over paying wages and by the 90s it was insolvent. It’s natural to want to consolidate your position by buying some other company that makes hats or whatever.
The vast majority of people only accumulate enough wealth for their own lives. Once you’ve reached that point where you really couldn’t reasonably spend the wealth you’ve accumulated, then you’ve probably already switched over to accumulating wealth for your progeny. Lasting generational wealth is more or less impossible unless you own a country or something because your progeny increases exponentially, and their lavish tastes increase, and their ability to make sensible financial choices decreases.
Finally, you don’t end up with more money than you could ever spend by being satisfied with however much money.
I think it’s easily understandable honestly. They got to this point a certain way and it’s become habit and a source of their power which they strive to increase. At a certain level of wealth it also just increases by itself.
It’s an addiction for some. For others, it’s like a security blanket. For others, it’s a source of power.
Real life incremental game!
Some species of chimps beat other chimps that horde to the detriment of the group to death
.
This is just a nature fact.
Mr Crabs: I like money 💰
This product costs $14 to make, they sell it for $30.
They remove three screws and replace the beautiful $6 screen with a bottom of the barrel $3 screen saving $3.06. People would easily pay $5 more for the nicer screen, but they can only focus on cost cutting instead of making a still modestly priced great product.
