Why do humans find fire relaxing?

r/

For me, and most people I find fire so relaxing to watch, Watching an object gets burn is so satisfying to watch.

Comments

  1. Rough-History-707 Avatar

    Because there’s something about destroying buildings that just feels right

  2. jmnugent Avatar

    It’s basically like watching “magic” happen in real time. It’s a somewhat “controlled” release of energy as a solid object gets basically turned into a gas (and some leftover ash).

    It’s not something we generally get to see very often in every day life. (unless you count something like “ice melting”.. but I guess most people watching that would find it quite boring)

    Snow falling is somewhat magical (especially to someone who’s never seen it before),.. it’s a sort of “phase-change” that can be magical.

    I think thunderstorms or big weather patterns are sort of like that in some ways.

  3. macdaddee Avatar

    An affinity for controlled fire probably was an advantageous trait for our ancestors

  4. Major_Enthusiasm1099 Avatar

    I’d say we’re instinctually drawn to it because it’s what helped us advance to be where we are today.

  5. gullywashed Avatar

    I feel the same watching the waves come to the shore over and over.. maybe because it is power we have no control over thats mesmerizing to behold.

  6. stoolprimeminister Avatar

    the sound of fire, sure. the sight of it is a little unnerving to me.

  7. TheEyeOfTheLigar Avatar

    Ive been on fire three times, and its never been relaxing

  8. seaofthievesnutzz Avatar

    ancestors who hate fire no procreate good

    ancestors who like fire procreate good

    genetics

  9. anima99 Avatar

    For me, it’s like I’m able to control something nature didn’t intend to be controlled. It gives me a sense of power over something much more powerful than me.

  10. Fluid_Concentrate404 Avatar

    The warmth, the flicker, and even the sound of it crackling makes you feel relaxed. It’s probably something deep down, like a sense of comfort, since fire has been so important to us for survival. Plus, it’s kinda fun to watch something slowly burn and change.

  11. Few-Dance-855 Avatar

    Because we are all a little wild on the inside

  12. AccordingSelf3221 Avatar

    It’s warm. In cold nights you gather with your friends/family close to it. You eat a meal, you share a bear, you spend time being alive with the people you meet along the way. Fire isn’t it but it’s what sparked it

  13. Eternal-strugal Avatar

    I think it helps with rapid eye movement, they say when your eyes are rapidly moving such as when looking at a flame, you’re able to process thoughts more thoroughly

  14. oforfucksake Avatar

    Burn baby burn. It’s no different than water, air, earth. It’s an element that is a necessary part of our lives. If only we can evolve into the understanding that we need eachother too.

  15. Greenfirelife27 Avatar

    Idk but I could watch and fall asleep
    next to a fire every day of my life

  16. FavelicMustard Avatar

    It’s because we’re all pyromaniacs. Hope that helps 😁

  17. StomachAromatic Avatar

    I always assumed it was because of the destructive nature of it. Watching things burn into ash while people carry their pistols and rifles as they celebrate. They’ll do that in the middle of nowhere in America. Create a huge fire and shoot their guns in the air while howling like animals.

  18. FileDoesntExist Avatar

    I always figured it was that little nugget of cave human brain. For a long time fire kept us alive. It protected us from predators and offered light and warmth. It was where our people were. Returning to it meant survival.

    And it held this meaning for us for so long that our instincts are drawn to it.

  19. EatingCoooolo Avatar

    I don’t. Fire makes me feel warm. The sea is relaxing for me

  20. joeliopro Avatar

    It’s heat. It’s safety. It’s cooked food. It’s hot water. It’s sanitation. It’s every bit as important as water to existence.

  21. Fadamsmithflyertalk Avatar

    and watching Water Waves….

  22. jamaicanmecrazy1luv Avatar

    It’s so complex. Start to finish. Never repeating. Warmth, heat. And think about our ancestors sitting by a fire for 100s of thousands of years. It’s maybe the most human thing.

  23. anonplease_xo Avatar

    It’s a primal instinct

  24. Chloedtu Avatar

    Our ancestors gathered around fires for warmth, safety and connection for thousands of years. It’s like our brains are wired to associate fire with calm and survival.

  25. NoExamination473 Avatar

    Prob cuz it kinda brings the sound of nature and it’s bright light and warm which brings symbolizes life (like the sun)

  26. Loreo1964 Avatar

    It’s a safety thing. Comfort in safety.

  27. rakozink Avatar

    Tens of thousands of years of it being the difference between life and death.

  28. Petrike123 Avatar

    From what I have read, the flames has a certain frequency that is related to theta brain waves for when we fall into sleep. So that’s why when you look directly into the flames you find somehow a comfort and you relax.

  29. vad1mkaa Avatar

    We like fire because it’s too old “gene member”, when old people relaxing after good hunting

  30. TheVenerablePotato Avatar

    From Blood Meridian:

    “The flames sawed in the wind and the embers paled and deepened and paled and deepened like the bloodbeat of some living thing eviscerate upon the ground before them and they watched the fire which does contain within it something of men themselves inasmuch as they are less without it and are divided from their origins and are exiles. For each fire is all fires, the first fire and the last ever to be.”

  31. OverallManagement824 Avatar

    It keeps predators away. Do you like predators stalking you in darkness?

  32. BasicSquash7798 Avatar

    Sensory. Visual, sound, smell and heat.

  33. meta_muse Avatar

    It’s in our dna dude. We discovered fire. We have a history of gathering around fire and telling stories and singing songs etc. it’s in our blood that we love fire and feel comfort when we are around it.

  34. HEREStheThingDarlin Avatar

    From olden times. You would usually make a fire in a safe place, it provides warmth, light, and a way to cook food. All of which, makes us comfortable.

  35. Hexquevara Avatar

    Understanding fire is what separates us from the other beasts.

  36. Tiny-Albatross518 Avatar

    After 2 million years you get set in your ways.

  37. Cameront9 Avatar

    Probably an innate sense of safety hardcoded in UA after 200,000 years of evolution.

  38. Guardian2k Avatar

    Fire warm, fire cook food, cooked food yummy, cooked food safe.

  39. headphonehabit Avatar

    It probably dates back to mankind’s beginnings. Fire meant safety from dangerous animals.

  40. thereisnospoon-1312 Avatar

    After hundreds of thousands of years of sitting around campfires every night. Watching the fire became something like watching TV while you are winding down before bed is now.

  41. Plato-the-fish Avatar

    I suspect the context may make the difference. A log fire under you when you are tied to a stake may evoke quite different emotions to one in a hearth on a cold night compared to a log fire in the middle of a wildfire….

  42. KaiserMazoku Avatar

    You know you’ll respawn there after dying.

  43. outthere49 Avatar

    It’s warm, and lots of people have fond memories of outdoor cookouts with friends and family, plus when it’s outdoors, it’s your light source. People who don’t have those experiences wouldn’t be drawn to the relaxing experience (unless they are joining those who already think of it as relaxing).

  44. Electronic_Froyo_444 Avatar

    It’s likely because fire taps into some primal instincts. Watching fire is soothing because it’s associated with warmth, safety, and survival. Plus, there’s something mesmerizing about the way flames move and change. It’s like our brains find comfort in the rhythm and unpredictability of it—kind of like how we find calm in watching waves or rain.

  45. TemplarTV Avatar

    Flame from Within and Fire of Creation 🔥
    Recognized and Attuned brings Salvation ⚡️

  46. skeletor-johnson Avatar

    Warm and hipnotic

  47. Phobia117 Avatar
    1. Warmth. Because who wants to be cold?

    2. Protection. Wild animals tend to stay away from fire, because it’s a foreign concept to them. Over millennia, it’s just been ingrained into the human brain that being near a fire is sort of a safe haven.

    3. Food. Because eating food raw is ill advised.

    It’s no secret that having a fire is like priority #2 if you’re gonna spend any time in the wilderness, only behind finding shelter.