Dread lights up like pain in your brain: The feeling of dread lights up the parts of the brain linked with pain, making the experience so uncomfortable that people choose to end the wait for an unpleasant experience sooner, even if it means incurring a penalty.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the vast majority of participants (84%) preferred to get the electric shocks over with quickly rather than endure the delays. But 28% of the subjects dreaded the delays so much that they were willing to endure stronger shocks simply to avoid the wait.
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“Waiting, in itself, may have either a value or a cost”
Only this, Socrates, replied Crito: the attendant who is to give you the poison has been telling me that you are not to talk much, and he wants me to let you know this; for that by talking heat is increased, and this interferes with the action of the poison; those who excite themselves are sometimes obliged to drink the poison two or three times.
Then, said Socrates, let him mind his business and be prepared to give the poison two or three times, if necessary; that is all. (Phaedo, by Plato.)
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I wonder how it compares to other types of anticipation, e.g. waiting for something good to happen. It's well known that people, especially children and teenagers, prefer instant gratification, but it is not clear whether the same brain region is responsible for the behavior.
tags: psychology effect anticipation time
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