Everyone is scared of something ... but what's the SCARIEST thing? Is it even possible to answer such a question? In this special I explore the dark recesses of the mind to learn how fears are born and whether there exists a grand, unifying terror.
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D!NG: / dingsauce
SEASON 1: • Isolation - Mind Field...
SEASON 2: • The Trolley Problem in...
SEASON 3: • The Cognitive Tradeoff...
INDEX
0:00 Intro
02:37 Fear Conditioning
06:03 Amygdala and Hippocampus
06:49 Innate Aversions
07:39 The Web of Fear
08:38 Fear of Death
10:30 Informational Learning/Storytelling
12:02 Nomophobia
12:48 Isolation
15:25 Fear of the Dark
17:36 Fear of Sounds
17:58 Auditory Cortex, Thalamus, and Amygdalae
19:41 Dissonance
22:00 Law of Contagion
23:23 Piloerection Reflex
24:49 Distorted Forms
27:14 Vicarious Learning/Social Fear Transmission
30:05 Innate Aversions
31:14 Category Jamming
35:04 Patient SM, Non-Functioning Amygdalae
36:44 Suffocation
37:54 Midbrain, Brain Stem
“It’s pretty dark inside my wife.” -Michael, 2019
*suspicious hmmm*
I wonder how he knows...
First time, I thought he said "its pretty dark inside my life"
my amigdala now associates this camper with death
"if a new born baby rolls in here i wont be able to scare it"-v suace
Plot twist:Michael was always afraid of squares and he is justifying it.
Akuraj Sound probably
Checks out
Squares are just infinity from 0 to whatever measurement, they are literally the universe and nothing
Or...was he??
You are a fool, the squares are I N F I N I T E
Let's all thank Michael for accidently telling everyone the mostly effective torture method
Haha yeah, it would be terrible if the American government learned about waterboarding. 👀
@@twistedpear18 I'm American, so im going to tell the lizards
"accidentally"...
Torture doesn't work anyway, people admit to crimes they didn't even do, Falsely sell out family members and good old fashion just make shit up on the spot just to stop the torture.
@@Lucid_lovesbwuI have five lizards, so I'll fill them in so they can tell the other lizards. We can start an army of lizards against the government, lizards are loyal if you respect them. An army of vigilante lizards. All the lizards vs reptilians.
It's been four years and I wanna know if Vsauce is still afraid of purple squares
I don't need sleep I need answer
Lol
Maybe if the therapy was like a month, nonstop.
We need to know for science
no because he has made a new emotional response towards the purple square. The purple square is associated with a cool experiment with cool people, a good video. So purple square gives good vibes now ^^ All hail the purple square!
scariest thing is micheal not starting with “hey, vsauce, micheal here”
micheal
micheal
Ummmmm Mind Field
Meincraft
You figured out what this man took months to try to figure out.
Can’t wait for Michael’s next horror movie: “Return of the elevation of carbon dioxide in the blood caused by an uncontrollable external threat”
Terrifying!
I'm already sweating
I peed my shorts
А где озвучка?
Well isn't humanity elevating C02 on earth and we are not in control?
I remember first watching this when it came out and being super dissapointed about category jamming being the ultimate answer. And then Michael immediately rejecting it and showing something so interesting it’s been on my mind for years. Michael Stevens is one of the greatest communicators I’ve had the privilege to learn from
Michael is the only person that can make a 40 minute video feel like 20 minutes. Like legitimately, if you watched this video twice, i'd be the length of a full feature film
The scariest thing is actually when you're about to fall asleep and your brain does that fake falling thing and you immediately fly up in full panic.
I love when that happens! Idk why people don’t like it?
It rarely happens to me but when it does I hate it.
It happens because our muscles become relaxed and the brain thinks we must be helpless and we must be falling.
@@afrazali8598 welp it's a bad funktion but i gets your heart going from 0 tp 100 real quick!
When you're thinking of faces and you're about to fall asleep:
I feel like the scariest sound for a deaf person would be any sound Imagine being deaf and suddenly hearing something
A lot of completely deaf people (like me) have constant tinnitus, so probably not. Actually, absolute silence would be stranger to me.
@@persimmonbread6668 oh wow, I actually did not know that! The more you know, Thank you!
@@persimmonbread6668 what about deaf people without tinnitus
Reminds me an anime called Dororo
@@persimmonbread6668 woah cool!
I just imagine you being chased by a killer and then he just pulls a vsauce on you and starts explaining and giving you examples of what scariness is Edit: bro walks in a victim bro walks out a thinker
@@AJ_Flame vsauce…
I loved to catch grasshoppers as a child, never feared them until one day out of the blue. I can't remember exactly what I was thinking of but I know it was something scary, I was also holding a grasshopper in my hand thinking nothing of it and then I felt a sudden sharp pain in my hand. The grasshopper actually bit me and I was shocked as I didn't think grasshoppers could bite. In my shock I actually dropped the grasshopper and when I tried to pick it up again, I discovered I could not. My hands were actually shaking at the thought. To this day I now have a fear of touching grasshoppers. It's not a problem if they are around me but I cannot physically touch them. The experience always stuck with me. I always link the experience to the scary thought I had at the time, the unexpected bite and that at the time I was alone.
Interesting. I wish we could somehow juxtaposition that input with something useful. For example, you're bitten by a grasshopper and now you find it impossible to vote for a democrat. Or now find it impossible to live in a blue state or an obsessive aversion to liberals. Think of the possibilities!
@@Temulon Not everyone lives in Mentally ill US you dolt.
@Temulon you're weird. This was actually an interesting comment and all you have to say about it is, "me no like stupid liberals!"
@@SleepyCavern I'll take your comment to heart and write a special entry in my diary tonight. thanks
@@Temulon who hurt you
Michael: "My wife is pregnant right now." Michael: *raises eyebrow* "Or is she?" Michael: "What is pregnant?"
It’s pregnency
@Yosef Khordani Nah, Really? 😂👌🏻
@@yosefkhordani7625 you didn't understand, Michael is going a loooong way, he is talking about "pregnancy", the word specificaly, it was most used in 1991... *ends video talking about the universe and the human race*
Well, it’s when you put the dingaling into the vagingaling, and 9-10 months later, the woman heaves out her nice little bebe.
Pregnancy
"We must find something so scary it scares even those who want to die" *horrible mobile game ad starts*
Dosbros 4 r/whoosh
How is this r/whoooosh?
Orashgle you spelled it wrong dumbass 😂🤦🏻♂️
@@iSwanqa wait, how?
@@justynpryce r/woooosh
As someone with an EXTREME anxiety disorder, I will say auditory things are wayyyy more scary than visual. Half the time I'm triggered by sound or touch wrather than anything else.
thats because humans were evolved to be wary of dangers they couldn’t see. For example a big cat sneaking up on you in the dark. The only sense that could alert you is noise in that case.
@@laztrig that is true, that's kinda the base of the said anxiety disorder, another thing to consider is humans nervous system. It reacts before the rest of your body everytime!
I had one extremely horrible experience with sound, an auditory hallucination. I was lying in bed one night and I heard breathing. It sounded distant but the grew closer and closer until it was in my ear. I was terrified to the point I refused to open my eyes. Most terrifying experience I ever had.
kfee
I have social anxiety but is it the same thing like normal anxiety
"I will just watch one last short" I guarantee that short will give you shivers
“What can possibly be the scariest thing?” the end of free mind field
Well you can watch it like several times so you will remember everything Change my mind
@@Savitar1976 but all seasons are already free on youtube
did you see that this isnt on youtube red
That indeed would be scariest
X 13 that’s a scam
Subtitles: scary music Deaf people: * sweating heavily *
🤣
🤣🤣
Facts
Reads Above Comment: Laughs for a solid 30 seconds
This is sooo wrong 😂😂😂😂💔
I almost wonder, in regard to patient SM and the other folks who couldn't feel fear, is it possible that their fear response was higher because this was the first time in literal decades that something made them afraid?
The scariest thing is the fear of fear itself. When watching horror movies, the scariest part is not when the monster attacks and reveals itself. It's the moment leading up to it, when you know something is going to happen that will scare you.
Apprehension then consternation
This. One of my constant fears is being scared, just thinking that something's gonna scare me is enough to stress me out
"I fear no man, but that thing..." *turns to purple square* "it scares me"
tHe SqUaRe BeHiNd ThE sLaUgHtEr (Beat drop)
🤣
@@leandroortiz8411 good one
haha
THE SQUARE BEHIND THE SLAUGHTER!
"Its pretty dark inside my wife" Michael gonna scar that kid for life
Iam Theone the kid already knows what’s in there
Aaron eyyy we have a similar name😎😎😎
@@aarohanyt7374he's ay-ay-ron
*Michael pops his head into the uterus* "Hey! VSauce, Michael here!*
For context this conversation takes place at 16:15 (fear of the dark/unknown)
15:47 “children and adults and myself, often don’t like the dark.” He says as he sits in an infinite expanse of darkness.
Why did this video feel like Michael’s audition to be the scariest thing
"What can possibly be the scariest thing?" Michael with no beard.
Michael with hair and perfect eyesight
Running out of weed man..... scary shit
Vsauce, Michael here but where is my beard?
Impossible
OH GOD THATS SCARY
"I mean, its pretty dark inside my wife" -Michael "Vsauce" Stevens, 2019.
It deserves more likes! Hahahaha
lol ok
ok
Bruh?!?!?!?!?!?!
ok
15:11 the doll staring at him is just pure nightmare fuel
what doll?
Longer than usual, better than usual. Super entertaining, and informing! Thank you Vsauce! Keep up the great videos!
Michael: I fear no man, but that thing... **Purple square appears** Michael: It scares me.
This is an underrated comment, but it is probably because it was from yesterday
T4zchi *cool*
@@T4zchi Thanks to the algorithm, it's not buried below all the month old comments.
*Gamecube intesifies* Srry if copied i didnt know
It’s a square, not a cube
Is that a p-p-p-p-p-p-purple square, Like lets get outta here scoob
Gollumisahomie here 🛐
Zoinks!
ゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴ
@Buddy Boy Fu-
Bill Johnson NIGERUNDAYO, SMOKEY!!!
Truly the most entertaining 40 minute video I’ve seen in a very long time. Jon amazingly done sir 👏👏👏👏
Jon?
i started this video knowing the answer had to do with that experiment and this is still one of the most interesting and informative videos i’ve ever seen
Imagine if characters in horror movies just walked around and talked about the scientific process of why they felt scared. they just get jump scared and be like: I now am experiencing a large Piloerection Reflex
lemon trotsky Movies would be 10000 times better
But they are screaming it
why? nah they’re just super monotone before they die of a stroke
@@thiccieredd9606 Go watch cabin in the woods then
hehe he, erection
"It's pretty dark inside my wife" - Michael Stevens, 2019.
Oof
What a legend
@@pixelee3890 amazing comment. very informative. really contributes to the conversation
Lol
@@somemagellanic yes, oof very related
Perfect episode to watch in the midnight. Thank you Micheal 😊
Finally, the sequel to "Why Are Things Creepy?"
Michael’s mom: son it’s bedtime. Michael: or is it??
Mono’s SUBs ahahahahahah legendary😂😂
And the cool little beat starts playing. You know the one that I'm talking about.
Michael: let's talk about that, mother...
@@steviecrx I think you need a timeout from phub bro lol
@@mikemurphy5898 lol damn man you got me. That legitimately made me crack up.
Man, I should have been dressing up as "elevated carbon dioxide in the blood caused by an uncontrollable external threat" for Halloween all these years
I'm sure You won't get candies from grandpa
just get a suit, fill it with pillows and hug people until they pass out, is kinda the same
Whoa you will scare all the kids , way too scary
Just wear a t-shirt that says that
You’re gonna have to grab that at the Spirit Halloween store this year pal
I frankly believe the most universal fear out of them all is losing someone or something you love. Like losing a parent, a friend, a pet, a loved one, a war, a battle, a sport, your mind, your memories, your favourite item
Normal people: "I'm scared." Michael Stevens: "My amygdala now associates this trailer with death and danger."
Haha, I'm in danger - Ralph Wiggum
dis dude said Micheal Stevens
@@LumboDumbo No, this dude said "Michael Stevens."
@@TheUnderscore_ No, He said Micheial Steavens
@@lynxsss5403 No, he said michal
This mad lad just gave himself a fear of purple squares for science
Well thats not real...
@@nasheethahmeda817 do you know what a joke is?
@@clumsyslime3369 idk i thought that was just a joke thats why people call it joke..
@Okay Tyler Ahhh!
Absolute mad lad
Once I had a fever and when I woke up my mum was the most scariest thing to me ever, despite the fact that I love my mum when I woke up from my fever dream, I had this feeling of fear from seeing my mum I will never hopefully feel again
Probably you did not fully recognize her, and rising from a fever dream, you likely were expecting an attack.
16:28 my mother once abandoned me in a dark room when i was a newborn and my dad told me i was crying in there, so i don't think i was feeling very "comfortable"
I feel like that was probably moreso fear of isolation than the dark
Surely the most scary thing that everyone can feel is when you tip your chair back just that little bit too far.
Lmao tru
no
as a guy in a wheelchair, tipping forward is the worst thing.
When you're away from home and that split second you can't find your keys or phone. Then you find them and relief washes over you in an awesome wave.
I like to live life on the edge
What is the scariest thing? - Micheal holding a candle so close to his beard.
He has a really nice beard
hey vsauce here
MY BEARD IS ONN FUCKING FIRRRE!!!
@@alpakapucuf3394 Yeah he does.
akash haider r/whoosh
Absolutely phenomenal vid
The fact that this video was made in the same day as today, but 4 years ago, makes it even better.
Michael's fears: • Teddy bear with human teeth • Scary stories to tell in the dark • Thanos square
HAHAHA THANOS SQUARE
And teenagers
is the best mmorpg
THANOS SQUARE THANOS SQUARE
thare
Scariest thing ever: Being suffocated by a purple square.
ok
seven deadly sins? perfect cube? 👁👄👁
I laughed for a minute straight when i read "by a purple square" my stomach hurts and my eyes are wet lol, ty
And you are a circle d
No one: 11 year olds: omg the fortnite cube Kevin the cube
As someone who suffers from sleep apnea (blocked airways while sleeping), every time when it happens during my sleep, I dream that I'm literally dying from drowning. I wake up panicking, trying desperately to catch my breath. Thanks for letting me know that every night, for many-many years, I dream with the most scary experience known to human beings, pretty much every..single...night..... In other words, every night I have the utter feeling that I'm dying (and I will, if for some reason I cannot wake up to catch my breath)
My scariest experience was while I was in a gas station during a tornado warning, looking outside at the twister. Until the windows shattered. And knowing neurological science, I was thoroughly expecting the scariest thing to be carrots.
“What can possibly be the scariest thing?” A spider you saw in your bed, disappear after you blink.
YES
I like spiders
AAAAAAAAAAAAHHH IM IN BED AND ITS MIDNIGHT AND MY ROOM IS PITCH BLACK HOW COULD YOU DO THIS RO ME WHAT THE HELLLLLLL
@@jcass7374 me too
Hell yahh
I have another fear. The fear of not being alone, which ties to the fear of the dark. You think you're alone, but you also feel like something is lurking in the shadows, watching you.
When I’m tired and watching vsauce at 1:00am (Canada, so NY time or EST) and I fall asleep for2 seconds and I shoot back awake, wondering how long I slept for
“It’s pretty dark inside my wife” Excuse me?
*jazz music stops*
Man this is dark
Lol
shit you got light fixtures in your body? couldnt say the same
Jeez he's seen some shit Bud dum tss
Michael: "I'm actually not alone!" Cameraman: =D Michael: **grabs phone** "I am always connected!" Cameraman: =(
F
Press f for cameraman F
F
F
F
Thanks for making this mind blowing piece
Dear Vsauce, thanks for an amazing and easy explanation of this matter. Keep making such videos💪
During wedding: Will you take this woman to be your wife? Vsauce: I do Crowd :awwww Vsauce: Or do I?
To be continued
Crowd oooooooo
Mateo Altamirano I would like to give this comment a thumbs up but the likes are 69...
He had us in the first half, NGL
*cue vsauce music
Top ten cruelest anime villains: Number one: Purple Square 🟪
Fayrayz shit dude you scared the shit out of me with that p-p-purrrp-ple s-s-squarrre
The square behind the slaughter
@don't matter he said it's purple soo
@don't matter Michael from Vsauce colorblind
im actually scared of that purple square h
I ain't getting no sleep... I actually watched the whole thing without skipping... Loved it it's amazingly enlightening
Michael has never truly recovered from that isolation room
" what is the scariest thing? " 25 missed mom calls
When you see that I be like ah shit here we go again
Damn right
Friend : What are you the most afraid of? Me : *Elevation of Carbon Dioxide in the Blood Caused by an Uncontrollable External Threat*
Friend: What are you most afraid of? Me: Purple Squares
@@cajdoesstuff9454 H
@@CraftingTableMC yeah
Dude I laughed so hard
basically drowning
The scariest thing ever would be no Vsauce!
I really want them to show Vsauce a purple square by surprise while measuring his vitals, now that it’s been years later, I wonder if he retains any feeling toward it
Scaring everyone in the room is easy. Just make some weird cough noises.
Gladius Gladii lol yeah it’s easy
Yup
CARONAVIRUS
Corona
@@lordpeanut7297 CARONA lol its CORONA. Wy do i know this.... Ohh. Im Asian -_-
“What is your biggest fear?” “Elevation of Carbon Dioxide in the Blood Caused by an Uncontrollable External Threat”
Useful for my next interview
Same
im laughin so hard rn
So basically, global warming. Edit; you guys have no sense of humor
@@sadgiraffe1914 no
I frigin love your videos 😂 no one can compare to your style fr so entertaining
it is a package which includes: sleep paralysis + lucid nightmare + hallucinations
‘Isolating can lead to heart problems’ People in 2020: 😐
Also people in 2020: 😷🤒🤢
Yea, not like meme isolation, like isolated in a cabin in the mountains for extended periods of time, or like Michael was in the first episode. That's isolation.
We have family members , were not alone atleast
Nope, 'Isolating can lead to heart problems' if other people around you are in groups then fears emerge. In this case we all in the same level. I think one of the biggest issues with isolation is the fear of being outnumber cause what can you do if you 1v5 nothing yes they are all powerful and so real fear born. (just thinking)
can, not always
Police: You are arrested Vsauce: or...am I? *background music plays*
next time i get arrested I am saying that.
BATMAN hol up
(Is taken on a tour of diverging and sorta related topics. Police left staring aghast and terrified at an empty vehicle)
@@K_ingh16 it works only if you get the background music as you say that. Michael can do that cause it is his normal super power. Or is it?
Nigga you are going to jail
Michael Is Kinda The Scariest. Imagine Him Being A Villain And Saying To You "Oh You're Smart.) Or Are You?)"
I really thought Michael was gonna get us with the classic car drive jumpscare
The scariest thing is waking up tied up in Michael’s basement and hearing: - Don’t worry. I am not going to do anything to you. - Or am I?
Your killing me 😂😂😂😂👄
Did not mean to send lips
Bakugo Deku 😘
Thiw guy is weird
This is is funny
Fiancée: I do! Vsauce: I do Vsauce: Or do I?
Thank you, Scott.
@@manny7289 lol
*vsauce theme plays as he rises an eyebrow and looks at the camera*
Go to sleep kid
Scott Arcement *music starts
"I could be more scared" ...proceeds to smile and nod
As i was reading through the comments i was realizing that fear seems to be centered around losses. Losing something very dear or meeting something uncomfortable. What is most uncomfortable to me, is to be rejected, disrespected or ignored. Bc my mind always tells me that I'm very special 🤪
16:17 "It's pretty dark inside my wife" Add one quote to the out of context pile
LOL
29:57 "you learned fear" is another one to add
@@atomicwinter31 how so?
“ I married a communist “ 10:41
Oh shit
The scariest thing is when Michael doesn’t start off his videos with “vSauce, Michael here”
Check out his other channel called Ding. He uploads videos there in his old style.
@@chronovore7234 and everybody knows that too just sayin
@Tricky Nicky I think he doesnt post here because of Mind field. Who knows though lol
exactly
and his beard Oo
One of the best content on youtube, thank you
Fear of the unknown, I like scuba diving but I absolutely hate it when I can’t see the bottom of the river or lake.. although my recent dive was an exception because I was able to hold onto a platform (and good god was it cold, it was like, 54 degrees Fahrenheit)
Most people when they're scared: AAHHH Michael: Ok, I'm pretty scared right now
Lmao 😂😂😂😂
LMAOO
I am sure everyone's fear is to die in the most brutal way.
I just realize that the entire intro just feels like a RL Stine movie.
666 likes lol
The scariest thing is when vsuace was gone for like half a year
horse
cat
Dog
Bird
Now he came back lookin like a straight up hobo.
Funnily enough when i was a kid till the age of 13 i was so scared of the dark that i couldnt go to the toilet at night but when i became 13 i was thinking of what im scared of and i didnt care that much anymore now not even caring about darkness
This is the level of "extra" I aspire to be on. Well done sir. 👏
Scariest thing ever: when you bend your chair a little too much and you about to fall
Yeah, that happened to me.... But I fell... I broke my favourite chair... *R I P C h a i r*
Any teacher reading this is thinking about that student they had a few years back
I am not feared of that anymore...
What's the scariest thing? EASY. Sleep Paralysis. If, like me, you've ever experienced it.....you know. You know. It's not just the single most existentially nihilistically disturbing terror I've ever experienced....but I'm absolutely convinced it is physiologically impossible to feel THAT level of fear during normal waking consciousness. I won't even try to explain or describe what it's like. It's flat out pointless to try. If you don't know...you don't know. And if you know....yeah, you'll never forget it, will you?
@@avedic but the thing with sleep paralysis is that you are scared because you are scared and people with damaged amygdala may not be able to see scary things you see when paralysed. Actually that would be an interesting experiment to make
To be honest, everyone is scared of Vsauce when he say's "Or is it?"
Win dex his name is Michael
Or is it
ಠ_ಠ
Deaf people: Subtitles: or is it? Deaf people: **visible fear**
Further on when Vsauce's eyebrow raises it adds to the effect of horror.
"I've got plenty of gas" is a flex in 2023 fr
"i fear no man, but that thing..." -square "It scares me..."
lol
It squares* me
@@cringekiddo you genius
Thanos is afraid of squares write that down
Underrated
Losing someone you love who you consider to be your other half. Terrifyingly saddening, and exactly as crushing as i imagined it would be except much more. But besides that have a great day everyday 😅
I didn’t actually think a real scariest thing was possible. Let alone something like drowning. From what I’ve heard drowning can be a relaxing way to go but I guess that isn’t entirely true. Awesome video
The scarier thing is having a staring contest with a doll, and winning.
O.o
😬💀
._.
The scariest thing must be playing rock-paper-scissors in the mirror and winning
That s a good one
I’ve never been afraid of cars until now. Possibly because my mom had taught me that people behind the wheel can not 100% control a car and she proved that. Everytime i walk i must check both ways every single time, wait for the stoplight, Wait for the person in the car to see me, Speedwalk etc I think things being out of ones own control is terrifying.
“You aren’t afraid of being alone in the dark. You are afraid of not being alone in the dark.”
But why did you say that.
Actually you can be afraid of both, because if you are not alone, things that are alive can kill you, but if you are alone what kills you is something that's not alive
@@fastrace8195 Even if it is not alive, it is there, you are not the only one there.
no, you are afraid of being alone in the dark because of how you might think you may not be alone
@@vision3439 that's what I'm saying
Michael: "I fear no man, but that thing..." *purple square* "it scares me."
Not funny didnt laugh Go back to reddit
@@Nelex5000 D:
@@Nelex5000 if you don't know what he meant with that reference you aren't a gamer
@Nelex 5000 Shut up u post boring memes that aren’t funny lmao u go back to fortnite or sum
@Jalynn McLain :O
Im 6 minutes in and the scariest thing I could think of is being tortured, but methodical so I stay conscious and alive for a very long time! Terrifying just thinking about it, especially what’s very sadly going on in the world right now
Incredible. Drowning has always been on the top of most lists regarding worst ways to die.
“Its pretty dark inside my wife”
oh shi-
yes, yes it was
@@ApesGarage OH MY GAWD THAT WAS SMOOTH
@@ApesGarage ay
@@ApesGarage ha
"It's pretty dark inside my wife" Michel Stevens 2019
Noorum Manan i am
CAUTION… The following comments may not be entirely PG-13.
I agree it was pretty dark inside her
My ex wife was very dark inside.
His wife had a BBC inside her.