# Have You Ever Felt "The Pull"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 5, 2011, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-felt-the-pull/566530 "2011-01-05T20:16:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![gregorio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@gregorio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gregorio)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-felt-the-pull/566530/21 "2011-01-06T03:21:07Z")
> [@Absolute](#): > > to my black boss, for example. I would never even think about saying that Um, yes you did think of it. And yes, I have felt it as well. Plenty of opportunities to veer off mountain roads, jump off a mountain ledge, drive into oncoming traffic. Haven’t done any of those things yet. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-felt-the-pull/566530/22 "2011-01-06T03:44:04Z")
> [@Absolute](#): > > Well, I’ve felt what you’re talking about, but I would not call it an “almost overwhelming urge”. More like a “terrifying realization that it would be so easy to do something horrible.” > > But I have definitely felt it, in all kinds of situations. I’ve felt it while driving. Also when hiking, when I could leap to my death in a single movement. Sometime while holding a knife or a gun. > > I’ve even felt this while talking to people. The realization that all it would take is a few words to change someone’s opinion of me forever. Saying “shut up, you fucking nigger” to my black boss, for example. I would never even think about saying that - but it’s scary that just saying a few words could completely screw up my life. Just like it would only take a little tug on the steering wheel to send my car into a bridge abutment. > > If you really feel this as an “urge”, well…I’m glad I don’t live in Florida. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/p1_YFmzPPCQ/hqdefault.jpg "Bill Burr - F\*cked Up Thoughts") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1_YFmzPPCQ) ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-felt-the-pull/566530/23 "2011-01-06T04:23:17Z")
“Right. Well, I have to… I have to go now, Duane, because I… I’m due back on the planet Earth.” ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-felt-the-pull/566530/24 "2011-01-06T04:26:24Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Absolutely. I’d be more surprised to hear someone say they’ve never felt it. My latest and most often occuring is the fear that I’m going to stick my hand down the garbage disposal while it’s running. Similarly, for some reason I imagine getting my hair caught in the A/C fan as I walk past it. Sometimes I think about jumping from a moving car, or other odd things. When my children were babies, I’d envision them falling out of the car or things like that, but I think that’s different; some mommy-fear of some kind. ---
**Author:** ![Taenia\_spp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5e925/32.png) [@Taenia\_spp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taenia_spp)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-felt-the-pull/566530/25 "2011-01-06T05:04:41Z")
Oh hell yes. This happens most often when I’m driving on the freeway at high speeds. I wouldn’t call it overwhelming or obsessive, but I’d consider it recurring fancy to sharply turn the steering wheel to one side. In discussions with my sister, she’s been horrified to learn that I want to do this, but then counters that she has a similar fancy to smash in the back bumper of another car when they are stopped at a traffic light. ---
**Author:** ![Fang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/96bed5/32.png) [@Fang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fang)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-felt-the-pull/566530/26 "2011-01-06T06:01:11Z")
The French have a word for this sensation. It’s called “l’appel du vide”, or “the call of the void”. I get it too. Not necessarily the urge, but more the fear that the urge will overtake me and I’ll do something crazy or stupid. Last week I was on the observation deck of a very tall building in New York. It would be pretty much impossible to jump off if you wanted to, but I had my gloves in my hands, and I just kept thinking, “Don’t throw them off the top, you’re not supposed to throw them.” I remember one time in high school wondering, “What if I just started freaking out and screaming in front of everybody for no reason? I’d get in trouble, destroy my social reputation, be considered a freak. Don’t do it, don’t do it.” It’s a weird sensation. ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-felt-the-pull/566530/27 "2011-01-06T07:02:21Z")
Ayup. Whenever I’m near a ledge, I just have this mental image of me going to the edge and jumping. I really don’t like heights for that reason. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-felt-the-pull/566530/28 "2011-01-06T07:03:59Z")
> [@Fang](#): > > The French have a word for this sensation. It’s called “l’appel du vide”, or “the call of the void”. > > I get it too. Not necessarily the urge, but more the fear that the urge will overtake me and I’ll do something crazy or stupid. Last week I was on the observation deck of a very tall building in New York. It would be pretty much impossible to jump off if you wanted to, but I had my gloves in my hands, and I just kept thinking, “Don’t throw them off the top, you’re not supposed to throw them.” I remember one time in high school wondering, “What if I just started freaking out and screaming in front of everybody for no reason? I’d get in trouble, destroy my social reputation, be considered a freak. Don’t do it, don’t do it.” It’s a weird sensation. This describes it perfectly for me. A couple times a year I drive out to the coast along some winding, mountains road and I’m always thinking to myself, “Don’t drive off the cliff. Don’t drive off the cliff.” I know I wouldn’t really do it. I don’t even want to do it, but what if I do it? ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-felt-the-pull/566530/29 "2011-01-06T07:07:49Z")
I frequently get the urge to take off my seat belt, open the door, and step out of the car - while it’s moving. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-felt-the-pull/566530/30 "2011-01-06T07:38:35Z")
I haven’t felt the\* pull\*, but I’ve felt the urge to _push_ several times. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-felt-the-pull/566530/31 "2011-01-06T07:56:05Z")
> [@Fang](#): > > The French have a word for this sensation. It’s called “l’appel du vide”, or “the call of the void”. > > I get it too. Not necessarily the urge, but more the fear that the urge will overtake me and I’ll do something crazy or stupid. Last week I was on the observation deck of a very tall building in New York. It would be pretty much impossible to jump off if you wanted to, but I had my gloves in my hands, and I just kept thinking, “Don’t throw them off the top, you’re not supposed to throw them.” I remember one time in high school wondering, “What if I just started freaking out and screaming in front of everybody for no reason? I’d get in trouble, destroy my social reputation, be considered a freak. Don’t do it, don’t do it.” It’s a weird sensation. Wow, I feel less crazy now. When I ride the Metro, I often fantasize about myself jumping down onto the tracks and going to touch the third rail. The rational part of my brain knows that this is absurd and I won’t do it, but the irrational part thinks that I just might and thus I won’t go near the edge of the platform until the train pulls in. Because what if I leap onto the tracks and electrocute myself? Good to know I’m not alone in these strange types of ideas. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-felt-the-pull/566530/32 "2011-01-06T08:10:29Z")
> [@Absolute](#): > > Well, I’ve felt what you’re talking about, but I would not call it an “almost overwhelming urge”. More like a “terrifying realization that it would be so easy to do something horrible.” I can relate to this. Sometimes, the realisation seems terribly alien, almost like the little angel/demon on the shoulder device so popular in cartoons. I’ve heard this referred to as ‘The Dark Passenger’ (and something else, I think, but it’s on the tip of my tongue and I can’t recall it). ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-felt-the-pull/566530/33 "2011-01-06T09:09:35Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Yeah, that very phrase has been used to discuss the sensation here previously. Board search would make it hard to find since you could only search on “perverse” 😉 but a Google search on the board’s server name would work. It seems pretty common, all things considered. I experience similar stuff while driving, standing near trains, etc. Not gonna go dig up the thread, but I seem to remember the mod in that discussion being very heavy handed, to the effect of “You have a psychological problem and this is not the place to talk about it. Go away. Now.” So apparently not everybody believes in this. As for the “imp of the perverse,” I imagine every parent of a newborn has horrifying thoughts they would never in million years act on. My wife rationalized it was probably some way of your subconscious warning you to be very careful with this tiny totally vulnerable creature who is so dependent on your every action. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-felt-the-pull/566530/34 "2011-01-06T14:31:56Z")
A previous thread on the [urge to jump](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=535083&). ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-felt-the-pull/566530/35 "2011-01-06T14:34:56Z")
> [@Fang](#): > > The French have a word for this sensation. It’s called “l’appel du vide”, or “the call of the void”. > I get it too. Not necessarily the urge, but more the fear that the urge will overtake me and I’ll do something crazy or stupid. Happens to me all the time, and it freaks me out. It’s like the urge is always there but I’m controlling it… _what if I lose control_? ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-felt-the-pull/566530/36 "2011-01-06T15:23:51Z")
High speed, two lane roads scare me for this reason: I sometimes have a slight urge to just turn the wheel a tiny bit, into upcoming traffic. While I’m confident of my ability to resist the urge, I sometime wonder if other drivers have my strong willpower. ---
**Author:** ![FuzzyOgre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@FuzzyOgre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuzzyOgre)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-felt-the-pull/566530/37 "2011-01-06T15:47:55Z")
Topics like this is why I love you guys. Back up a bit so I can take a group photo? Dont mind the crumbly edge, its perfectly safe. The Imp of the Perverse or the call of the void happens to me too. Swerve into oncoming traffic, off a cliff. We are all a little crazy, but it doesnt make you insane. You aren’t (probably) going to do it in a million years. Over at an aspergers forum we have a long running thread “you might be an aspie if…” and one of the ones that made me laugh referenced an impending supermeteor strike on earth. Sure, you’d die a horrible death, _but wouldnt it be neat?_ I think thats related. We all just want to live(and die) in interesting times. I am sure people outside the first world countries dont get these crazy urges so much. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-felt-the-pull/566530/38 "2011-01-06T15:53:30Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I haven’t felt the\* pull\*, but I’ve felt the urge to _push_ several times. That’s slightly different. Whenever a policeman’s back is turned, I often wonder if I could steal his gun… ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-felt-the-pull/566530/39 "2011-01-06T16:36:55Z")
Boy, you guys are all NUTS! :eek: Kidding, I still get that urge. I also get the urge to grab money and make for the door (I work in a casino). Though, the way my car payments are looking… ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-felt-the-pull/566530/40 "2011-01-06T16:44:24Z")
> [@NinetyWt](#): > > When my children were babies, I’d envision them falling out of the car or things like that, but I think that’s different; some mommy-fear of some kind. Dads get that too, or at least I do. I sometimes wonder what would happen if one of them jumped off the bridge or down to the floor below in the mall. Then I get mad at myself for thinking such stupid stuff. I get this feeling on the motorcycle as well as in the car, though I think I get it more in the car. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-felt-the-pull/566530.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-felt-the-pull/566530.md?page=3)