The brain is a random info eating monster

While people are more comfortable with that which is familiar, the opposite is also, counterintuitively, true: our brains crave novelty. As noted in the articled linked, “all of us have felt the pleasure of acquiring information.” I think this is why shows like Jeopardy! are enjoyable and also why people love memes from IFLScience.

the Alex Trebek

While Jeopardy! is loads of fun for showing off the (mostly useless) knowledge we’ve amassed, most people who are all, “I f*cking love science,” are really more into amassing tidbits of info. They’re not actually into science. Science isn’t about just a collection of cool factoids; it’s a way of thinking about and approaching the mysteries in the world and universe around us.

Science isn’t immutable facts set in stone that you go around impressing your friends and competitors with. In fact (hah), science isn’t about “facts” at all. Science is about discovery and experimentation and changing one’s mind about the how things work when provided with new evidence that may be contrary to what was previously acknowledged to be the best working theory. So don’t say you love science if you’re not prepared to change your outlook on something when the experts say that new research show that a certain pet view is, at best, half-baked and, at worst, totally wrong.

(And don’t get me started about the general populace confusing the scientific use of the word theory with the layperson’s use of it.)

So, it’s great to want to accumulate random bits of knowledge and make your stimulus-hungry brain happy–I love to do it, too–but “IFL science” should really be changed to “IFL trivia.”

Hey! Did you know that some bats have poop that sparkles because they eat insects whose exoskeletons are made of a shiny substance called chitin? IFLTrivia!