Revenge: Maybe Not the Solution It's Cracked Up to Be
Well, this is disappointing. According to the L.A. Times, studies suggest that even though we all have revenge fantasies -- creative, intricate, disturbing, and wonderful revenge fantasies -- and that those revenge drives may even be "hard-wired" in our brains, actually taking out the revenge may just make you feel worse. Which is so unfair, really.
Thanks, science.
According to a group of University of Zurich scientists, thinking about revenge stimulated a region of the brain related to the anticipation of a reward or pleasure. But a social psychologist at Colgate found that players who retaliated against a cheater while playing a game actually ended up feeling worse than those who basically forgot about it and went on with their lives. And in another experiment, students who retaliated against an insulting comment from a grader by punching a punching bag only got angrier.
As our mothers used to say, maybe the best revenge really is simply moving on. Once you get even with that jerk.
Like so.
[JDoll]
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