Why Does Mild Anger Feel Motivating?

Andrew Huberman says neurosurgeon Robert Heath let patients with electrodes in the brain stimulate themselves. Across those patients, the spot they chose most was the midline thalamus, where the feeling was mild frustration and anger. They found it arousing and motivating, even though the stimulation did nothing useful while they sat in the chair.

Huberman says the result is a little dark. That arousal, a me-versus-them feeling, can drive people who might otherwise become complacent.