Buzz!: Inside the Minds of Thrill-Seekers, Daredevils, and Adrenaline Junkies

by Kenneth Carter

Most of us crave new experiences and sensations. Whether it's our attraction to that new burger place or the latest gadget, newness tugs at us. But what about those who can't seem to get enough? They jump out of planes, climb skyscrapers, and will eat anything (even poisonous pufferfish) ... Prompting others to ask 'what's wrong' with them. These are high sensation-seekers and they crave intense experiences, despite physical, or social risk. They don't have a death wish, but seemingly a need for an adrenaline rush, no matter what. Buzz! describes the world of the high sensation-seeking personality in a way that we can all understand. It explores the lifestyle, psychology, and neuroscience behind adrenaline junkies and daredevils. This tendency, or compulsion, has a role in our culture. But where is the line between healthy and unhealthy thrill-seeking? The minds of these adventurers are explained page by page.

Genres: Psychology, Science, Nonfiction

225 pages, Paperback

First published October 31, 2019

About the author

Dr. Ken Carter is Charles Howard Candler Professor of Psychology at Oxford College of Emory University, where he teaches introductory courses in psychology as well as advanced courses in clinical psychopharmacology, research methods, and personality.

His first book Learn Psychology was published in 2013. His second book Buzz!: Inside the Minds of Thrill-Seekers, Daredevils, and Adrenaline Junkies will be published in October 2019.

Reviews

[Carol Kean · Rating 5 out of 5]

We see them in sit-coms and movies. We see them hanging out with our children. The guy (less often, it's a gal) who can't just chill out and watch a movie or hang out doing ordinary things. In college, my husband survived a year with one of these "HSS" - High Sensation Seeking - guys as a roommate. The kind of guy who'd drive an hour through a blizzard for that one pizza you can't get anywhere else. The guy who jumps off rooftops into the snow.

Author Kenneth Carter has a kind and compassionate view of these thrill-seekers. He's not one of them: "I became fascinated by the idea that there are people in the world who seek out stimulation and thrive on chaos," he explains in the introduction. "It's so contrary to my own experience that I had to learn more."

Each chapter addresses different aspects of this personality. "High sensation-seekers are, indeed, different from us,"he says, and in Chapter 2, he presents clinical evidence that their neurochemical makeup may be different than the average person's, and "they may be genetically predisposed to see out sensation for evolutionary reasons."

Careers, hobbies, extreme sports, relationships, and the kind of achievements or struggles HSS people may have in common -- all covered here. Chapter 7 explores the risks of substance abuse, addiction, gambling, crime, and other antisocial behaviors that can plague high-sensation seekers.

Are they dangerous, out of control, broken? How long would the human race survive without these adrenalin junkies doing things most of us "would never" -- joining the military, building skyscrapers, entertaining us with extreme sports?

My favorite section addresses "agency" - our ability to act in the world, to make choices, to exert power to make things happen. Without "agency," we accept whatever happens instead of taking charge or trying to change things.

Actually, I believe most of us have occasional tendencies to do crazy stuff for the adrenalin rush. My mom tosses empty aerosol cans into the fire just to watch them blow. She's passed age 80 and still doing this stuff. But she drives below the speed limit and doesn't drink or smoke. I used to speed up for potholes and puddles. (Then I got married, and that wasn't my husband's idea of "living on the edge.") One thing this book doesn't address is whether parents and spouses are ever able to stamp out the thrill-seeker's tendency to do stupid/expensive things.

I never expected to myself in here, but I did, and it explains a lot. I thought my problem was simply "you need a social filter," but it's more than that. Apparently there's a thrill-seeker in me who isn't content to stick to safe topics. "When given the opportunity to pick topics for discussion, HSSs are more likely to pick a topic of disagreement than average or low sensation-seekers," Carter observes. Aha. I'm not thrilled by roller coasters, but I have my own dangerous pastime, and it happens to involve striking up conversations with strangers in stores, or bringing up hot topics with family members. It's not that I'm out to offend anyone (never! I swear!)--it's just this compulsion to tackle topics of conversation that others wisely steer clear of.

--It's not a conscious choice, I can attest. In store aisles and check-out lines, I'll often have a total stranger telling me personal things: high school anorexia, PTSD from Vietnam keeping a veteran awake at night, or a white-haired lady telling me, in tears, about her son in prison. I never remember how these strangers come to tell me these things, but it's a pattern, and now I have a new explanation for it. I say things other people would never say. The HSS in me will go where angels fear to tread. And I never learn. This seems to be part of the pattern with thrill-seekers. Does a broken arm, a totaled car keep them from taking foolish chances in the future? Not usually.

With any luck and a lot of conscious effort, I might find more people who think like Carter does. He dedicates this book "To all those who bring delicious chaos into my life."

Never mind the ancient Chinese curse, "May you live in interesting times." We all know someone who rocks the boat, makes waves, stirs up trouble, or tells tall tales of his adventures and near-misses and calamities. Would we really want a world without daredevils and adrenalin junkies?

Live and let live!

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first, I was fearful I'd picked a type of text book lite on the topic of thrill and sensation seeking. This started with some psychology testing jargon, including appendixes in the back to do some self-testing. Included are short questionnaires for Zuckerman's Senstion-Seeking Scale Form V, the AISS (Arnett Inventory of Sensation-Seeking), and the Grit Scale. I'm glad these foundational items were dealt with and the well-qualified author, Dr. Carter, moved on to individual stories he gathered through interviews to address areas of interest such as pros and cons and how high thrill and sensation seeking individuals live their lives. There is a lot in this volume that's less than 200 pages. It includes topics/experiences on mud runs (aka as Warrior Dash, Tough Mudder, and Spartan Death Race), base jumping, working in an Emergency Department, and astronaut trainees. The author admits he's into to none of it but certainly has a fascination for understanding the topic. My rating is 4 stars. I learned a lot reading this but it still left me with a few questions that are perhaps for further research.

[Ryan George · Rating 2 out of 5]

You’ll find pink highlighter marks throughout the pages of my copy of Kenneth Carter’s book. As an adrenaline junkie, I was intrigued by a researcher’s peek into biology (especially neurology) that unlocked some realizations about how I’m wired. Ironically, it’s not an exciting read. In fact, I used the college professor’s chapters to help me fall asleep over a month of evenings—sometimes making it only a page or two before turning off my light for the night. I found the tests in the back too simple and short to reveal solid scores. They could use more diverse options to capture the various categories Carter was trying to codify.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always wonder why there are people who keep on doing dangerous things like sky diving, crossing one building to another in a rope, go on risky adventures, and many more.

This book help clarify what goes on the minds of those individuals. Reading this book makes me learn that I am a low sensation seeking individual compared to those high seeking individuals (HSSs) I read about here.

I learned about what makes HSSs who they are, what benefits to they get from their activities. I also recognize people in my life who are like them.

[I Read, Therefore I Blog · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kenneth Carter is a clinical psychologist and Professor of Psychology at Oxford College, Emory University in the USA. This very easy to read book delves into the psychology of why some people engage in thrill-seeking behaviour (e.g. BASE jumping, eating exotic and potentially deadly foods or sky diving). I found it fascinating and came away with more of an understanding for what drives people to do these things and what they gain from it.

[Marcia Claesson · Rating 4 out of 5]

My daughter lent me this book to read so I could understand her better, as she is a high sensation seeker. I learned a lot about this type of person. The book was written by a non-thrill seeker, who was also seeking to understand these people. I learned a lot, and the examples were helpful. I still won't totally understand high sensation seekers, but I did gain a lot of insight.