As one of my earliest memories as a child, I remember going to Six Flags Great America, where I rode my first roller coaster. This coaster had back-to-back loops and I remember having that excited and frightened butterflies-in-my-stomach feeling as we zipped around the theme park.
Thrill-seeking and novelty is not specific to humans. In fact, many animals also display this curiosity toward unknown objects. In animal behavior, this concept is called the paradox of novelty. Meaning that although something is frightful, at the same time it is also intriguing, so the animal may pursue it.