The search for survival

Why do we play extreme sports? Why put ourselves to danger for a ball, or play action-packed videogames? I recently got an idea, and here it goes.

Simply put, we have a need to feel the will to survive.

Since the dawn of the human race until recent we have had the need for a survival instinct. Without it, we would simply not have survived the wilderness we lived in. But as more advanced societies formed, the "feeling of wanting to live" became obsolete. Today we fear a late buss, or economic issues instead of predators.

And just like Facebook is making people depressed for "tricking their brains they are social when they are not" I believe tricking the brain you are in a dangerous situation makes it backfire in the same way. 

And some (like I believe I do myself) might have a basic need for danger, since the survival instinct never gets to be used otherwise. And why should that be strange really? We make the same assumptions about animals all the time, presuming they would not be happy if not able to live by their instincts.

I do believe the will to survive, and the search for it needed in today’s society, resides deeper within ourselves than just seeking the adrenaline rush from dangerous acts.

/Sjusovarn