Why People Prefer More Pain

A massive thank you to Rayner Moss for recreating the experiment equipment and making this shoot happen.

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Adam Foreman, Anton Ragin, Balkrishna Heroor, Bertrand Serlet, Bill Linder, Blake Byers, Bruce, Burt Humburg, Dave Kircher, David Johnston, Evgeny Skvortsov, Garrett Mueller, Gnare, gpoly, I. H., John H. Austin, Jr., John Kiehl, Josh Hibschman, Juan Benet, KeyWestr, Kyi, Lee Redden, Marinus Kuivenhoven, Matthias Wrobel, Max Paladino, Meekay, Meg Noah, Michael Krugman, Name, Orlando Bassotto, Paul Peijzel, Richard Sundvall, Sam Lutfi, Stephen Wilcox, Tj Steyn, Toni, TTST, Ubiquity Ventures, Wolfee.

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References:

Images & Video:

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Directed by Petr Lebedev
Written by Petr Lebedev and Derek Muller
Edited by Peter Nelson
Animated by Fabio Albertelli and Ivy Tello
Illustrated by Jakub Misiek
Filmed by Derek Muller and Bernard Lau
Produced by Petr Lebedev, Derek Muller, Rob Beasley Spence, Owen Maher, David Szasz, Emily Taylor, Gregor Čavlović and Alistair Dann

Thumbnail contributions by Ren Hurley and Peter Sheppard

Additional video/photos supplied by Getty and Storyblocks
Music from Epidemic Sound

[adayah]

**Ends with an annoying ad**



PS I was slightly disconcerted by how many folks didn't notice that my comment was meant to be facetious. Of course I don't deny Derek the right to place sponsorship messages alongside his amazing content! However, doing so at the end of this particular video made me smile at the irony and I wanted to make you guys smile as well. I am glad for the majority of you who did - you are amazing. Cheers!

[corlinpalmer]

This is why someone can go to Disneyland and spend 10 hours standing in line in the sun, but 5 minutes on actual rides, and still think back on it as a great day.

[LexUtd]

Ending the video with an ad did put a smile on my face, well done sir.

[panomaniac]

I read the Kahneman hand in cold water study a dozen years ago and found it fascinating. It took me awhile, but finally it showed me why Hollywood is so in love with the happy ending. Even after a violent and painful movie, a happy or good ending will prompt you to enjoy the experience overall. It's a trick that Hollywood has learned well and uses to multi-million dollar success.

[thomasmuller]

"End it with something pleasant"
Proceeds to end the video with a sponsor message

[MacSmiley]

“Put your right hand in the box.”
“What’s in the box?”
“Pain.”

[guillaumelavoie]

Your voice and your content is what make me come back every time! I love that it can be applied to almost everything I do in my life, work, training, partnership and memory. I never realized that memory was a photographer and not a filmmaker but know that you mentioned it, it is a photo ta come alive and short span of before and after the photo play in my mind but really not the whole thing. Thanks once again for this great video, I love how memory work and affect our lives in subtle ways.

[VideogamesPang]

I think the reason the Linda question trips people up is because it feels like the additional information in the more desriptive answer implies that that information does NOT apply to the less descriptive answer. If I say "do you want a ham sandwich, or a ham sandwich with cheese" you would naturally assume that the first option means a ham sandwich WITHOUT cheese, even though that's not specified and could technically mean either.

So while I think the results of the experiment would still be similar even if you accounted for this, it does feel iffy to kind of trick people with a quirk of language and then conclude "Ah ha! People think that the smaller subset is more likely even though that's obviously impossible!"

[whoeveriamiam]

Ending with that cute dog was so smart. Some YouTubers end their videos with an annoying ad so the viewers forget they ever saw that dog

[c.jishnu]

Honestly, ending with an ad pays less than a mid-roll ad, so Veritasium is actually sacrificing it's revenue for us.

[kamo]

6:20 I was asked recently what my most favourite family vacation was, and I answered with one of the shortest vacations we ever had, about 3 or 4 days.
It was the last vacation our family had before my eldest siblings got married and moved out, and I still fondly remember this. I've had longer vacations, but nothing comes close to that time 5-6 years ago

[DiamondRoller]

I find it very funny that everyone is talking about the ending. It’s what they remember most. A literal example of what the whole video was about lol

[Lueluekopter]

"The best way to close a Youtube video is with a wholesome message, so here's a cute dog playing with flowers" - Proceeds to follow the cute dog with an ad 😅

[julioaurelio]

“Everyone must choose one of two pains: The pain of discipline or the pain of regret.”
– Jim Rohn

[MustafaKemalKula]

I agree with the argument "happy ending" but I would consider two more things which are also related to each other.
1- Already leaving your comfort zone
the participants of your experiment are leaving their comfort zone by putting their hands in the cold water, so it doesn't matter for them staying a bit longer because they already felt the pain. Imagine, you have to edit a YouTube video but you don't have enough energy and motivation to do that but once you start, it doesn't make so much difference continue editing for one more hour, if you get a better result at the end aka a better prize. I would say the prize in this experiment for the participants is to be able to hold their hands more.

2 - more stress = more adrenalin and dopamine until a certain point
for example doing an exercise causes stress but with that adrenalin and dopamine hormones release which make us happy. It happens also while we are studying or taking cold shower. It means leaving our comfort zone makes us happy, so leaving it a bit further means more happiness until a certain point. In my opinion we also see this effect in your experiment that's why the participants remember the longer version better.

[gvishwajith]

Great Video Derek! Always been a fan of your content. I love the way you played a little mind experiment on all of us at the end, and also how you cheekily inserted the number 37 here and there... :)

[ppfqvbj]

The ad at the end is brilliant.
People feel so smart pointing this out, that you get a huge amount of comments -> peak.
And not only that: People also remember themselves being so smart. And people love feeling smart. And THIS is the real end of the video experience for them.

[dblevins]

Its why you always celebrate finishing a difficult task/bad experience with something you enjoy. It makes the whole experience better.

[thestormcallr]

Veritasium changing the thumbnail for the 10th time:

[bvvjd]

What you say is true and true from my own experience, as last year’s summer vacation ended with an earthquake that struck Morocco, and this made me forget all the beautiful moments of the summer vacation.