“It’s the same kind of thrill people get from, say, riding a roller coaster or bungee jumping — it activates the experience [that] typically comes with a real kind of danger while actually being protected from the harmful effects typically associated with those situations,†he told Cosmopolitan. “One of the main functions of disgust, the heart of this particular emotion’s primary job or core mission, is to protect us from infectious diseases.â€Â