The science of the plot twist: How writers exploit our brains

Recently I did something that many people would consider unthinkable, or at least perverse. But somewhat counterintuitively, they also explain why knowing about a plot twist ahead of time — the dreaded “spoiler” — doesn’t really spoil the experience at all. It doesn’t matter whether we’re reading a story or negotiating a salary: Any initial starting point for our reasoning — however arbitrary or apparently irrelevant — “anchors” our analysis. Consider “The Sixth Sense.” After unleashing its big plot twist — that Bruce Willis’ character has, all along, been one of the “dead people” that only the child protagonist can see — it presents a flash reprisal of scenes that make new sense in light of the surprise. Even years after the film’s release, viewers take pleasure in this twist, savoring the degree to which it should be “obvious if you pay attention” to earlier parts the film.