SUMMARYThe paper develops and renders plausible the hypothesis that modern man is developing an ever greater tolerance and desire for excitement and violence, because scientific and economic progress has so greatly diminished the hardships and hazards of everyday work and existence and of the fight for survival that most people are left with a stimulus deficit, which they try to eliminate. The various sources of deliberately sought‐for stimulation, ranging from dangerous sports and gambling to violence, crime and participation in collective hazardous action, are listed and discussed, and the available statistics of their use or incidence compared and analyze