Why do humans find pleasure, amusement and overall entertainment in other people's suffering? e.g. laughing when other people get hurt, enjoying death and violence etc. Why do we, 'civilized' animals, still have such ''primal'' impulses?  When people fall, for instance, our natural instinct (or at least for most people) is to laugh. Back in ancient Rome, people would watch gladiator fights and deaths for leisure. Nowadays, we laugh at people being killed and overall consume violent entertainment. What is it that makes us (psychologically) enjoy these types of things? What makes death, pain and violence so amusing to humans?