Many of us have experienced the odd sensation that we shouldn’t trust ourselves not to simply jump from a high place for no reason. Some even feel an urge. Philosophers and psychologists have tried to make sense of this senseless urge for centuries now.
# Stuff You Should Know - Call of the Void
This episode dives deep into the mysterious phenomenon of the call of the void—that unsettling urge to jump from a high place or swerve into traffic that pops into our heads seemingly out of nowhere. Josh, Chuck, and Olivia explore how philosophers like Kierkegaard and Sartre explained it as the "dizziness of freedom," where we're confronted with the terrifying realization that we could choose to do something dangerous at any moment, then shift into what psychologists have discovered through intrusive thought research and studies about this surprisingly common experience. It's a fascinating mix of existential philosophy, clinical psychology, and the reassuring news that experiencing these thoughts doesn't mean you actually want to act on them—it's just how human brains work.
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