Your Lizard Brain Makes You Read This
When he hooked up volunteers to a brain-scanning machine, the preferred pictures were shown to generate much more brain activity than the unpreferred shots. While researchers don't yet know what exactly these brain scans signify, a likely possibility involves increased production of the brain's pleasure-enhancing neurotransmitters called opioids.
In other words, coming across what Dr. Biederman calls new and richly interpretable information triggers a chemical reaction that makes us feel good, which in turn causes us to seek out even more of it. The reverse is true as well: We want to avoid not getting those hits because, for one, we are so averse to boredom.
It is something we seem hard-wired to do, says Dr. Biederman. When you find new information, you get an opioid hit, and we are junkies for those. You might call us 'infovores.' "
For most of human history, there was little chance of overdosing on information, because any one day in the Olduvai Gorge was a lot like any other. Today, though, we can find in the course of a few hours online more information than our ancient ancestors could in their whole lives.
Especially if you read HotHardware. We've noticed Cro-Magnon men didn't know anything about motherboards.
Comments
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That's incredibly fascinating! So this could explain scientifically why we as humans lust for exploration and discovery. Cool! |
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Is it me or does the word DUh come to mind. Learning something interesting to you is fun. I didnt even need a brain scan. |
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Not so much learning ANYTHING but it seems each specific person feels good about learning/seeing specific things -- what I would like to know is, what in a brain makes you feel good about certain things but not others....or EVERYTHING for that matter |
Do scantilly clad beautiful women qualify as "new and richly interpretable information"? If so, then I would have to tell this Dr. Biederman no sh*t. Seriously though, of course as human beings we are interested in learning new things and thus derive pleasure from discovering new information about that which interests us. Hardly a ground breaking discovery. |
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Never ceases to amaze me how scientists manage to scientifically discover thing that are commen knowalage and common sense using untold publically funded money. |
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you know if they donated half the money they spent on stuff like this to medical research we could have cured cancer already |
Unfortunately I don't think too many researchers are looking for cures to health problems anymore. Since nearly all research grants are paid for by pharmacuetical companies, they are more interested in a pill you take for the rest of your life that will manage your symptoms, rather than a pill you take once that will cure them. It's true that there are privately funded researchers actually looking for cures, but they have become the exception instead of the rule.
I know this comment is a bit of a digression from the original topic, but since it's still about research there is a hint of underlying correlation. |
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