Why do we love things that go wrong? Is it something in us?

Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines schadenfreude as «enjoyment obtained from seeing or hearing about the troubles of others.» This is an incredibly useful word to describe that feeling that we get when something goes wrong. It’s when you’re taking pleasure in someone else’s misfortune. It might make you feel like a bad person when you do this, but it couldn’t be more natural. It’s part of what it means to be human, and there is no way around it. We can fight our worst instincts if we’d like to, but that doesn’t mean we will outrun them. It’s better to blow off steam in small ways when you can; that way it doesn’t come up at inappropriate times. This is true about schadenfreude. It’s part of our natural desires as humans, but we can’t lean too far into it, or else we will get ourselves stuck in hairy situations. You don’t want to laugh when your friend falls down and scrapes their knee as they were trying to sashay away at a party. So you do laugh when you see it happen on the internet. It doesn’t hurt anyone, and you get to release the valve a little bit. There is nothing wrong with doing this so you can spare the feelings of your friends in real life.