Charlize | Week 10 | Schadenfreude
One of my top ten favorite words is the German loanword Schadenfreude (shah-dun-froy-duh); Cambridge Dictionary defines the word to be “a feeling of pleasure when something bad happens to someone else” where Schaden means “damage” and Freude means “joy.”
It’s similar to karma in a sense, but karma is simply cause and effect. Schadenfreude from someone receiving karmic retribution because “they deserve it” is normal, but it’s also applicable in other circumstances.
Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche once said “Humor is just Schadenfreude with a clear conscience” and it’s hard to deny that. Laughing at Tom and Jerry or Spongebob Square Pants when watching the shows' respective main characters get nearly-concussed with swirling stars of dizziness above their heads is “damage-joy.” Jokes teasing other people are quite literally jsut laughing at their suffering.
Just today, my friend tossed his baton (a 38” long stick with a metal dome) in the air. When he realized he couldn’t catch it and tried running away, he tripped, fell, and then the baton hit the back of his shoe. I remember snorting as I tried not to laugh, and he looked around saying, “Holy aura loss, I hope nobody saw that.”
It would be completely different if he were actually injured, but there was just something so humorous about the situation. Perhaps it was the irony of him trying to escape his fate, just to be smacked by the merciless baton. Or maybe the sense of unrealness of how unbelievable it was to be so unfortunate with an instantaneous double whammy.
Yet, Schadenfreude isn’t just reactions to slapstick comedy.
Seeing someone you despise mess up—isn’t that just so... satisfying?
Envy and hatred for others play a role in this pleasure with viewing them as more “deserving” of misfortune. However, Nietzsche argues that inferiority is the most dominating factor in contributing to pain relief, associating Schadenfreude more so with feelings of personal inadequacy rather than negativity from witnessing the success of others. It may be embarrassing to admit, but for many, watching their adversary fall off their high horse is empowering; you’re no longer beneath them in this "competition" of social comparison.
Schadenfreude isn’t quite socially accepted—surveys conducted by researchers have found people resonating with the “Dark Triad” traits of narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy to be closely associated with malicious delight. Philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer argued that Schadenfreude is an “infallible sign of a thoroughly bad heart and profound moral worthlessness.”
Well! That's great to hear!
It’s been said that empathy is the “cure” for Schadenfreude being a lack of empathy, but at least personally, it’s a bit hypocritical to view the latter with such a negative perspective. I’m not here to argue if it’s immoral to take pleasure in someone’s demise, but laughing at your friend when a teacher catches them on their phone when you told them it was a bad idea (I told you so!) or feeling gratification from your academic rival failing their test is vastly different than feeling overjoyed from someone getting seriously hurt.
From Kagurabachi
Charlize, I really enjoyed reading your blog this week. Thank you for sharing your favorite word with us, I cannot wait to incorporate Scadenfreude into my day-to-day vernacular! Just out of curiosity, where did you come across this word? I’m curious because it’s not even an English word, it's German!
ReplyDeleteI love the distinction you made between karma and Schadenfreude citing that karma is simply "cause and effect” while Schadenfreude is ‘karmic retribution.” I agree with Philosopher Nietzsche (not only because he is a philosopher, but also because I thought about it for a solid 20 minutes) that humor is Shadenfreude with a clear conscience and that is a very powerful notion. It demonstrates that intention matters not only in thought but in expression of said thoughts. I disagree that it is embarrassing to admit that watching an “adversary fall off their high horse,” I think it takes an immense amount of maturity and self awareness to recognize that about oneself. Nobody is perfect, but everyone strives to be and sometimes the people we view to be perfect rather than applauding them and wishing them success, sometimes we just can’t help but hope they either fall down to our level or we somehow rise to theirs.
Empathy is such an empty word, nobody really understands what is going on in someone else’s life, sympathetic is the most apt description for those who try to be empathetic. Those who believe that Scadenfreude is the source of “profound moral worthlessness" and the “infallible sign of a thoroughly bad heart” need to reflect on their own lives, about the world around them, and then reflect about their lives again because whether they realize it or not, Schadenfreude is something we all participate in. Whether or not to accept it or engage in constant denial and demeaning is an individual choice which speaks to a person’s character more than their views on Schadenfreude ever could. Thank you for writing such an interesting and informative blog this week Charlize I had a lot of fun writing this comment and researching a little bit more!
Hi, Charlize. First and foremost, on the topic of Sweden, IKEA is a very well run store! Back to the topic though, I was surprised to hear that Schadenfreude shines such a negative light on what is essentially playful teasing. While there is obviously a very fine line between teasing and belittling, I agree that it’s not a fair comparison to view making jokes with friends and declare that as morally wrong or detrimental as feeling pleasure when something bad happens to someone else. When I laugh at my friend, I’m not laughing at their losses or even laughing directly AT them. There’s a direct difference between laughing at someone and laughing with someone. While I agree that laughing at someone or getting pleasure in their demise is morally corrupt, making jokes just isn’t that deep. It’s also hypocritical in the sense that Mr. Nietzsche likely made jokes with his friends like that at some point in his life. And while I’m sure he doesn’t claim to be perfect or exempt from his own philosophy, it makes me wonder if he was bullied or felt made fun of by those “jokes” in his life which made him interpret them as so. That’s where the fine line between teasing and belittling comes in; it’s only funny if all parties think so. Moving on to empathy, it’s weird to view an emotion as a cure to a problem. Happiness is the cure to depression. Confidence is the cure to anxiety. Like, sure, but that’s not exactly very helpful. Though, I would argue that there can be a shortage of empathy in the world. Especially for those who are on their “high horse,” it’s easy for them to display a sense of entitlement or superiority which can fuel hatred or envy in others. I don’t see any downside in having more empathy, though having competition (especially academic) with others can sometimes push yourself to do better. And, as long as it doesn’t become extreme, it isn’t as harmful as Nietzsche may claim.
ReplyDeleteHello, Charlize! While unlike Ranvir, I probably won’t be including Schadenfreude into my speech, but thank you for sharing! I enjoyed reading your blog, and agree with you: Schadenfreude is an interesting word. It’s probably because it’s German, but the spelling and pronunciation are interesting, as well as the meaning.
ReplyDeleteAs much as I agree with you on how satisfying Schadenfreude is, I think Schopenhauer and Nietzche have a point. When they’re talking about Schadenfreude being a sign of psychopathy, I think they’re right. It’s not morally right to take joy in the suffering of others but we do so, and it makes us more human. We’re not saints after all. I think deep down, all of us have some sort of desire to watch someone else suffer, and I view Schadenfreude as a way of releasing that desire. Obviously, if someone is going overboard, society would view that as “evil,” but anything else within boundaries we view as “normal.” So yeah, in a way, I agree with Schopenhauer. We are evil for demonstrating Schadenfreude, but it’s just human nature. We can’t help it.
Also, LOTM = RI. It’s really just up to personal preference in stories. Reverend Insanity is full of Schadenfreude. Its popularity really goes to show that deep down, just about everybody enjoys the occasional Schadenfreude (or that I’m just really weird).
I like your inclusion of different clarifications and details about your subject! It really helped me understand the context of the word and the extra details helped add lots of complexity to your discussion.
ReplyDeleteThe emphasis you place on how schadenfreude is a highly situational feeling and often only felt when the situation doesn’t seem very serious, like in the cartoons you discuss, or when harmless mistakes were made. That seems to be an important distinction to make because it highlights how the feeling isn’t a feeling akin to sadism, that the emotion is more lighthearted in nature.
The various sources you link in your writing really help provide more credibility to your argument, and they help add facts and elaborate about how the feeling of schadenfreude is complex and nuanced.