biological nature of information
When hunting wild deer, lions have to judge which wild deer is easy to catch based on the information they have obtained, and then ambush according to the direction of wild deer’s escape.
An example that can highlight the importance of information is the foraging process of bats. Bats have extremely poor eyesight, but they have evolved a very technical “ultrasonic positioning system” that can judge prey well through changes in sound wave pulses size and orientation. In addition to helping us hunt for food, information can also help us avoid predators. Some scholars believe that the olfactory lobes are the earliest information receivers in organisms. By absorbing the chemical signals emitted by the outside world, they can judge whether the environment and food are harmful, and then respond.
This is what information means to us – information is fundamental to our existence. We need enough information to be able to guarantee our own survival. Through evolution, we subconsciously crave information.
Sharing information earns respect
The importance of information to our existence also extends to another reason why we are obsessed with mobile phones and information-we can gain respect by sharing information.
In primitive societies, information sharing is as important as food sharing, both of which can increase the survival rate of the population. The more information an individual has, the more respect he can get. Therefore, we often see such storylines in books or film and television dramas: a young and strong person is the leader in the group, and there is a most respected old man at the same time.
In fact, this is because in an environment of information occlusion, the amount of experience often symbolizes the amount of information mastered, and older people have more experience information, so their opinions have a high reference value.
Sharing valid and truthful information earns us respect and trust. This has also largely led to our addiction to online social interaction. The fewer people who know a piece of information, or the more important we think it is, the more pleasure we get from sharing it. Therefore, some “chicken soup” and rumors in the circle of friends emphasize its rarity and importance in order to achieve the purpose of being widely spread.
information decompression function
When we experience stress, cortisol is released in the body. Cortisol helps us generate more energy in response to environmental stress. When we see a tiger jump out of the grass, without the help of cortisol, we stay put.
It is precisely because of the presence of cortisol that our muscles will release a large amount of amino acids, the liver will release more glucose, and fat will release sufficient fatty acids, thereby quickly providing the body with sufficient energy, allowing us to be able to When a tiger appears, it immediately chooses to run away or fight.
But too much cortisol will cause the body to consume a lot of energy in a short period of time, which is why people under long-term stress will become very thin and more likely to get sick, because their fat, muscle and liver are severely depleted , There is too little energy to maintain itself, and the detoxification organs are damaged.
At this time, the self-protection mechanism of our brain will be activated, and our behavioral “steering wheel” – the dopamine system will adjust the behavioral path, allowing us to choose some ways that can divert our attention and reduce our stress response to the current scene , in order to achieve the purpose of reducing cortisol. The use of mobile phones for entertainment can just divert our attention and reduce anxiety. Among them, the information that can effectively reduce our anxiety is “gossip”.
This is how the thousands of product managers behind phones and their apps keep us hooked.
