Lab Conscious

Maya Leshkowitz Ohad Livnat Innbal Menashri
In this work, we propose an account of a fundamental paradox in modern human behavior – the discrepancy between the knowledge we want to gain, and the information we end up consuming. In the new model we develop, the paradox is a natural outcome of the temporal dynamics of two psychological factors that shape epistemic curiosity. The new model conceptualizes curiosity as a bi-dimensional psychological phenomenon, where one factor is the urge to approach information, and the other is an evaluation of how interesting it might be. In three experiments we validate the model. The last experiment examines a simple nudge that may help people align their epistemic behavior with their longer-term goals.