Hey there!
Welcome to Life Noggin!
You know that inward shiver you get when you witness something embarrassing?
It happens on youtube a lot.
Circlia: It especially happens when you make a bad pun on Life Noggin!
Blocko: Okay!
Haha very good!
Triangle Bob: and when you talk to Circlia.
Blocko: alright, well we should get to the-
Triangle Bob: or when you talk with anyone else really.
Blocko: ALRIGHT!
So why do people cringe?
That’s what we’re talking about.
Blocko: Embarrassment is an emotion that makes us
feel bad when we publicly violate a social norm - like when Triangle Bob trips down the
stairs or burps loudly, or trips down the stairs while burping loudly.
It happens a lot.
Cringing is a sort of vicarious embarrassment that happens when we see someone else make
one of these mistakes - even if we don’t know the other person or if they don’t realize
they are doing it.
Triangle Bob: We can also get this feeling when we’re
faced with a reality about ourselves that we were unaware of,
like when you hear your voice in a recording or watch yourself in old videos.
Blocko: ugh!
I’ve changed okay!?
I’ve changed!
Circlia: Melissa Dahl, the author of Cringeworthy:
A Theory of Awkwardness refers to this as “cringe-theory,” which is the idea that
we are embarrassed when the version of ourselves we think we are presenting to the world clashes
with how the world actually sees us.
But why do we cringe when someone else does something embarrassing?
In the ’80s, before the term “cringe” came about, one researcher referred to this
feeling as “empathetic embarrassment.”
He theorized that because our culture is so concerned with proper social conduct, simply
envisioning ourselves in place of someone else doing something embarrassing makes us
feel embarrassed.
And we wouldn’t be able to feel this way if we didn’t have this important social
trait called empathy.,
Triangle Bob:
Empathy is essential in our social world because it allows us to know what someone else may
be feeling or thinking so that we can treat others compassionately.,
This means that the more empathetic you are, the more you will cringe.,
But, now you can say you cringe because you care!
Blocko:
In a 2011 study, researchers measured brain activity while showing test subjects a sketch
and description of an embarrassing scenario.
They found that the same regions associated with empathy - the anterior cingulate cortex
and the left anterior insula - were activated during these times.
Scientists call this area the “pain matrix” since it has been linked to our compassionate
perception, or empathy, for both physical and social pain.
While this study looked only at how strangers make us cringe, a more recent study published
in 2015 by the same group looked at how our brains react when our friends make us cringe.
Circlia: As you may expect, they found activity in
the pain matrix increased when seeing friends embarrass themselves compared to strangers.
But they also found more activity in a region associated with self-related thoughts called
the precuneus, suggesting that we share our friends’ embarrassment or are concerned
about our own social image.
Triangle Bob:
So, while cringing isn’t fun, it means that we have the ability to relate and care strongly
about others,
which isn't all that bad if you ask me.
I make a lot of mistakes.
The animator kinda messes with me.
It’s my thing, but i see a lot of comments that feel bad for me.
Kinda neat that everyone like-
Triangle Bob: Oh come on not again!
Blocko: So do you actually like watching cringey videos?
Or do you hate seeing people get embarrassed?
If you have a cringey story, and you’re comfortable with sharing, share it down below
in the comments!
I’ll be responding to some!
Curious to know the dengerous effects of bullying, well then you should check out this video
i did with triangle bob.
They often experience neglect or are themselves being bullied by parents or siblings.
Due to feeling shame from their own experiences, they might develop defense mechanisms like
aggression.
Targets of bullying often do worse in school and are more likely to skip or drop out.
As always, my name is Blocko, This has been life noggin, don’t forget
to keep on thinking!