Humans are ‘info-vores’ - Caveman Blues
Fascinating article in the Times about how our material desires are creating havoc in our lives, and how evolution is to blame. One of the most interesting facets, is how we deal with stress and worry by seeking out more information, and in the age of info-overload, that can create avalanches of information that bury us.
The researcher Irving Biederman says human brains have a cluster of opioid receptors in a brain region associated with acquiring new information: we evolved to get high whenever we learn something. “We are designed to be info-vores,” he says. “When you are trying to understand a difficult theorem, it’s not fun. But once you get it, you feel fabulous.”
Read the article, or the book it’s extracted from - Enough: Breaking free from the world of more
