“The key to the ride’s success isn’t so much what it does to riders physically, but how it works them over psychologically, wringing them out with alternating applications of terror, surprise, and exhilaration.” Bloomberg’s Jeff Wise talks to the experts to find out how to design a roller coaster that’ll make you beg for mercy.

+ Related: A virtual reality guided tour of 21 years of the Nasdaq. (Ride at your own risk.)