Binge-watching preys on our animal instincts

In Binged, Mashable breaks down why we binge-watch, how we binge-watch, and what it does to us. Because binge-watching is the new normal.

It's 2 a.m.

Empty plates specked with crumbs surround you.

The house is pitch dark, save the blue-tinged luster from your laptop.

You edge your slightly trembling hand forward — and press play.

Binge-watching TV — a widely-practiced cultural phenomenon — is celebrated by Netflix. The media streaming giant knows that its 130 million global subscribers like to binge, and it annually announces the most binged series of the year. While the obsessive watching of shows, from Breaking Bad to The Haunting of Hill House to Making a Murderer, isn't necessarily bad for you (unless it becomes a life-altering, addiction-like behavior), this on-demand, unchecked streaming feeds off our more primitive, evolutionary instincts. Read more...