In the past few years, psychological scientists have discovered many ways in which the practice of revenge fails to fulfill its sweet expectations. That minute before revenge is savory, as the authors of the Science study recognized but what about the days and weeks that follow? The actual execution of revenge carries a bitter cost of time, emotional and physical energy, and even lives. But while the idea of revenge is no doubt delectable - the very phrase “just desserts” promises a treat - much of its sugar is confined to the coating. It is as classic as Homer and Hamlet, and as contemporary as Don Corleone and Quentin Tarantino as old as the eyes and teeth traded in the Bible, and as fresh as the raid that took the life of Osama bin Laden.
The findings, published in a 2004 issue of Science, gave physiological confirmation to what the scorned have been saying for years: Revenge is sweet.Ī thirst for vengeance is nothing if not timeless. The decision caused a rush of neural activity in the caudate nucleus, an area of the brain known to process rewards (in previous work, the caudate has delighted in cocaine and nicotine use).
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The researchers then gave the people a chance to punish their greedy partners, and for a full minute, as the victims contemplated revenge, the activity in their brains was recorded. These people had trusted their partners to split a pot of money with them, only to find that the partners had chosen to keep the loot for themselves. A few years ago a group of Swiss researchers scanned the brains of people who had been wronged during an economic exchange game.