Keitai

I think i’ll have to buy the New Scientist today to read the rest of this article…

Why are you reading this article when you could be watching paint dry instead? It’s all because of our innate hunger for information. Humans, it turns out, are infovores…The term was introduced into the scientific lexicon recently by neuroscientists trying to work out why we get a kick out of learning something new - why we have an appetite for knowledge…They claim that the neural pathways through which we learn about the world tap into the same pleasure networks in the brain as are activated by drugs like heroin. They say that, for humans, only the basic urges of hunger, harm avoidance and the need to find a mate can distract us from this info-craving…

This now helps justify the fact that every time we hand someone our Wee Tropical Fish Guide, we end up in a silly conversation about fish. I mean, it’s only fish. How many people can possibly care about fish? Shouldn’t they care about something way more real-time, interactive, data-driven, location-aware and cutting-edge (buzzword…buzzword..:-)

Turns out lots of people do care but everyone has a different reason to care (sushi, diving, memories of travel, aquarium fixation, childhood pet, heron in their backyard koi pond—all real stories BTW.)

Very cool. And totally long tail…

[And yes...data driven and location aware would also be great with a fish guide.]