[salawat]

Somewhat. It really kind of depends. It can be that. It can be a visceral thrill at the intellectual understanding of what one is setting in motion. (A fire can be considered an early manifestation of network effect. You invite the coordinated release of energy in proximate fuel sources). It can be a symbolic thing (catharsis through slipping out of the bonds of civilizational control and unleashing the most primal manifestations of the oppressor on themselves). It can be an act of creative destruction, (a time to build, a time to destroy; ashes to ashes). It can just be liberating in the sense the ensuing chaos causes an incontrovertible shift in the world around them in pretty much any sphere you can imagine. It can be joy of equality found at last. All are made equal in the face of Natural forces. For some it's about finding resonance between a state of internal emotional turmoil and external circumstance. (I want to burn until there is nothing left to burn about.) Or think of how one in pain may injure themselves or inflict an acute pain on themselves to distract them from an unceasing pain. I have a feeling that for many, it's as simple as "it felt like the thing to do at the time".

Interestingly enough, arson was one of the original capital offenses in many traditions of justice systems as the building techniques of primitive cultures are often not terribly resilient in the face of malicious fire starting.