We’re always on the hunt for fresh inputs to feed into our nervous system. The material world, with its spatiotemporal boundaries and its many frictions, tames the seeking impulse. Once we grow accustomed to a particular place, to a set of physical surroundings and a group of people, the novelty wears off. Environmental stimulation subsides, the mind calms, and our thoughts come under our control. We gain focus. We begin to explore narrowly rather than widely, deeply rather than superficially. Our seeking instinct tells us that the familiar is without interest, but once the instinct is
...more
