Why are we attuned to the latest headline, diet craze, smartphone, and fashion statement?
Why do we relish a change of scene, eye attractive strangers, and develop new interests?
How did homosapiens survive near extinction during an environmental crisis 80,000 years ago, while close cousins very like us died out?
Why is your characteristic reaction to novelty and change they key to your whole personality?
Follow a crawling baby around and you'll see that right from the beginning, nothing excites us more than something new and different. Our unique human brains are biologically primed to engage with and even generate novelty. This 'neophilia' has enabled us to thrive in a world of cataclysmic change, but now we confront an unprecedented deluge of new things—one that shows no sign of slowing. In New acclaimed behavioral science writer Winifred Gallagher, using cutting-edge research and interviews with countless experts, shows us how we can use our adaptive gift to navigate more skillfully through our rapidly changing world by focusing on the new things that really matter.
