"For one study, Red Sox and Yankees fans watched simulated plays while a fMRI measured their brain activity. When a fan saw the rival team fail, a special area in the brain called the ventral striatum lit up. It helps process reward, pleasure, and decision making — suggesting the fans were experiencing schadenfreude. But the ventral striatum is also involved with decision making. But also, interestingly, fans who showed more activity in their ventral striatum also reported that they were very likely to harm a fan of the rival team either by heckling, insulting, threatening, or hitting. This could explain why schadenfreude seems to be driving human conflicts and violence worldwide. But isn't time that we finally shake off this archaic way of thinking?"