Why do people love mysteries?

A mystery is a question that hasn’t been answered. And it just so happens that we humans love searching for answers! Why is that?

Key to survival

People are programmed to look for answers. This was a matter of survival for the first humans. Where can I find food? How can I avoid being eaten by that sabre-toothed tiger? Your life depended on finding solutions!

Our brain likes to come up with answers. It’s why detective films and crime series are so popular. Who committed the murder? Was it the butler?

Stories about mythical beings or cities trigger the same sort of speculations. Are the Loch Ness Monster or Bigfoot real or not?

The latest evidence

And a constant stream of new evidence keeps us hooked. People say they’ve photographed the Loch Ness Monster or found a Bigfoot hair.

But that ‘proof’ later turns out to be a hoax. The monster in the picture is just a clay figurine on a toy submarine; Bigfoot’s hair belongs to a polar bear.

Making excuses

If most myths aren’t supported by evidence, why do we like to think they’re true? Psychologists call this ‘cognitive dissonance’: that feeling of unease you get when you make a mistake. To prove you’re right, you start making excuses.

People do the same thing with mysteries and myths. Is the reason we never see the Loch Ness Monster because it lives at the bottom of the lake? Maybe Bigfoot and polar bears have a lot in common.

Group imagination

Myths and mysteries hold more power when more people believe in them. That’s because you can let your mind run wild as a group... while, deep down, hoping the mystery never gets solved.

Beantwoord door Melanie Metz