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Comment by timeattack | Hacker News Reader

Whenever I read, see or, especially, visit such enormous abandoned man-made objects I have very specific feeling which is hard to put in words. Some wild yet soothing blend of awe and fear.

Does anyone else experience it? Is there a name for such feeling?

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Really I think you're just describing awe, which as traditionally defined [0] always included (or at least, certainly did not preclude) an element of fear. This seems completely natural to me, but I grew up with a sort of old-fashioned understanding of certain English words. The use of the adjective 'awesome' in recent decades has perhaps helped people to forget its negative connotations.

[0] "an emotion variously combining dread, veneration and wonder" https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/awe

This definitely resonates with me. These sorts of constructions have been an obsession of mine for as long as I can remember. There's a very specific feeling they conjure that I've never been able to put into words either, and I'm guessing it's similar to what you're feeling! There's definitely a morbid curiosity aspect to it which is why seemingly sinister things like this (or my fave, 33 Thomas St) have even more appeal.

In case you have not heard of it: The video game Control is set in a building inspired by Oldest House: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control_(video_game)

Probably you mean kenopsia[0]?

[0] https://www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows.com/post/27720773573/...

So that's what I feel on massive sound stages that are dark after we are done shooting for the day.

That's the perfect word to describe many cities and public spaces today.

I once watched a old black and white video on YouTube of an Ekranoplan (ground-effect vehicle) flying / gliding on the sea.

I was terrified the whole time and I'm still terrified if I look at it again. I have no idea why (I can watch any military hardware video without any fear).

I mean, it is conceptually kind of a nerve-wracking thing to fly. It's a plane that is constantly two seconds from nailing the ground/sea and crashing. And as you're ripping along at 300 mph you have to constantly scan for any ships that might be in your way, because you can't just fly over them.

One of the noted problems with it was pilot fatigue, for exactly this reason.

Ground effect aircraft are usually designed with enough extra power available that they can temporarily climb to higher altitudes to avoid surface obstacles or high waves, at the cost of increased fuel consumption.

Videos I've seen of the sound of an A-10 firing its main gun can inspire similar feelings, particularly when you hear the supersonic crack of the individual rounds before the rumble of the gun itself.

Totally. It's like that sound obsession thing, what's it called?

It's a deep, weird variation of awe.

Btw, the US PAVE PAWS [0] doesn't quite do it, maybe not big enough. Weird though.

[0] https://www.peterson.af.mil/News/Photos/igphoto/2001504934/

Probably you're already familiar with it, but if not, you'll love this:

https://www.reddit.com/r/AbandonedPorn/

I've seen this used as a location in movie/tv show. It was used as the wall/barrier/border. I can't remember which one though. If it was not the actual Russian site, it had to have been the source of inspiration for the artists working on the show. I had to pause the show to look up images of the antenna array for comparison, and it was spot on. Just wish I could remember the title to look for screen shots.

I think you're thinking of the movie "Divergent"

Yeah, I think that was it. Thanks. Pretty sad that I remember nothing about the movie except this minor thing.

https://www.tumblr.com/search/divergent%20locations

Same here, I also have the same feeling in very large rooms when I’m not on the floor — say an engine room in a ship.

The sublime.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sublime_(philosophy)

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