The World’s Deadliest Addiction Is Popping Up on Brain Scans. And It’s Not Even a Drug

Slate ^ | July 14, 2025 | James Kimmel Jr.

[Pontiac]

Revenge is an act designed to inflict harm on someone because they’ve inflicted harm on us. We could yearn for anything after we’ve been mistreated, like a scoop of ice cream, a nap, or a relaxing massage. But what most of us really want is the other person’s pain—and for them to know that their pain is because of the pain they’ve caused us.

The desire for revenge is the root motivation for almost all forms of human violence. From childhood bullying to intimate partner violence, urban violence, police brutality, mass shootings, violent extremism, genocide, and even war, perpetrators of violence almost always believe they’re victims seeking justice.

Recent neuroscience discoveries reveal a chilling picture: Your brain on revenge looks like your brain on drugs. Brain imaging studies show that grievances—real or imagined perceptions of injustice, disrespect, betrayal, shame, or victimization—activate the “pain network,” specifically the anterior insula. The brain doesn’t like pain and tries to rebalance itself with pleasure. Pleasure can come from many things, but humans have evolved to feel intense pleasure from hurting the people who hurt us, or their proxies.

In more modern times, Hitler, Stalin, and Mao achieved a combined death toll of some 102 million people by waging a world war that included murdering—or ordering or encouraging the murder, torture, or starvation of—approximately 38.5 million people who they believed wronged them for things like betraying their nation (Jews in Germany), refusing to give up their land and possessions (peasants and landlords in communist Russia and China), and disrespecting or opposing them. By my estimate, of the top 20 human atrocities of all time, identified by researcher Matthew White in his book Atrocities: The 100 Deadliest Episodes in Human History, 19 were the result of compulsive revenge-seeking. They left an estimated 336 million people dead.

[dfwgator]

But nevertheless, it is true that the Communists’ modus operandi has always been to create the chaos, so they can impose their order. And the folks who created the chaos in the first place, will be first against the wall after the revolution.

[PIF]

Muslin religiously motivated atrocities are irrelevant to his research.

—
Of course the most vile murders are irrelevant, since he does not want to face their wrath. Best to stick with non-muslim murderers.

Oh and by the way, Islam is not religion, its a system of government. The religious bit is simply a way to excuse their murders, as lying in defense of Islam is a required position.

[Lurker]

There’s not a lot of money in revenge.

L

[Albion Wilde]

The imagined wrongs that living White People have inflicted on Black People seem to be causing Revenge Addiction in the Urban Black people.

Also, the exaggerated wrongs that dead white people supposedly inflicted on dead black people seem to be causing Excused Revenge by Proxy in living black people.

[Magnum44]

[dfwgator]

Also, the exaggerated wrongs that dead white people supposedly inflicted on dead black people seem to be causing Excused Revenge by Proxy in living black people.

Booker T Washington said it best, over a hundred years ago:



And furthermore, the black 'racial problem solvers', are nothing more than the Step-N-Fetchits for their white liberal masters.

[Lizavetta]

“Oh, blow it out your *** Howard.”

Damn you! I was just going to find that still shot from "Blazing Saddles." :)

[Migraine]

Classic; the product of a brilliant, warped mind.

[dfwgator]

:)

[Albion Wilde]

I've been a great admirer of Booker T. since the 1970s. I found his autobiography very, very inspiring when I was a young woman starting my own business in what was then a very male-dominated sector. His example of diligent excellence and perseverence in spite of the put-downs of mainstream culture really spoke to me. He was born a slave, but eventually became the first black American received for a meeting with a President in the White House.

[dfwgator]

A book that should be required reading in every school.

[Pontiac]

An aggressive act of revenge is bound to get you agitated, emotional and excited, but once you’ve done it are you going to endlessly look for more opportunities to attack people you think have wronged you?

I know people that walk through life always looking for a fight. I bet you do as well.

There are people that find inocent remarks as a personal attack and are immediately outraged.

I think that some people (Democrats generally) that are addicted to being angry and in some it frequently leads to violence.

[Pontiac]

If you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?

William Shakespeare

[Magnum44]

[dfwgator]

[SaveFerris]

Thornton Mellon is supposed to be at the library studying!!

[dfwgator]

“Hey, Kurt, can you read lips?”