People Like Losing Control

People like losing control. Who are the people we resonate with in our stories? The berserkers, the lunatics, the people holding onto their sanity by a single thread (and we love it when that thread finally snaps). Look in real life. How many people drink alcohol, smoke substances, or put other foreign chemicals into their body to lose control?

But why do we like to lose control? Maybe it's because it lowers our obligations. If great power requires great responsibility, then giving up your power also releases you of your responsibilities. Right? I mean, when people are so sick of the things they have to do with their life (work, pay bills, feed their children), they crawl into a bottle and wallow in nothingness.

Of course, in stories, people who lose control are able to do more than they normally would. They can use their full strength. They can say exactly what they want to say. They can do what they have always been too afraid to do. People become strong and free when they lose control. It's no wonder we resonate with them.

The argument could be made, though, that we never truly lose our obligations. Even if you are too drunk to go to work, you still have to do it; you simply fail to meet those obligations. And like I've said before, if an argument can be made, make it. Go and explore the consequences of losing control, positive and negative.