How painful rituals bring people together
An anthropology professor steps out of his comfort zone to walk on fire.
Dimitri Xygalatas has spent more than ten years trying to figure out why people voluntarily participate in painful rituals.
He tells us about the time he unexpectedly tried fire walking in Mauritius, and what it taught him about why these kinds of rituals persist.
"Performing these painful, intense or stressful rituals increases social bonds between participants. This is why you see several organizations like military groups or university fraternities using pain in order to increase bonding between individuals."