Second City Works presents "Getting to Yes, And" Getting to Yes, And… | James Kimmel, Jr – ‘The Science of Revenge’
Nov 25, 2025
James Kimmel, Jr., clinical psychiatry professor and author of The Science of Revenge, explores the neuroscience of revenge and why it can become addictive. He discusses revenge-driven violence, the role of social media and manufactured grievances, and how forgiveness rewires the brain to reduce craving and pain. The conversation balances grim cases with practical hope for healing and recovery.
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Revenge Lights The Brain's Addiction Circuitry
- Neuroscience shows revenge activates the brain's reward circuitry like drugs, producing dopamine-driven craving.
- Kimmel cites over 60 brain-scan studies where imagining retaliation lights up the nucleus accumbens and dorsal striatum similar to substance addiction.
Social Media Is A Catalyst For Revenge Addiction
- Modern social media amplifies manufactured grievances and fuels compulsive public revenge seeking across political divides.
- Kimmel warns rapid grievance broadcast creates habit-forming cycles of provocation and retaliation at scale.
Prague Truck Attack As A Revenge Trial In Her Mind
- Olga Hepnerova wrote letters announcing a planned vehicle attack after long perceived victimization and then targeted elderly tram passengers.
- Kimmel shows she mentally played victim, judge, jury, and executioner before committing mass murder.
