Our brains are designed to master both predictability and creativity.
The authors draw attention to an apparent contradiction in the workings of the brain. First, we are very good at prediction. What this means is that we are highly adaptable. We encounter something and we quickly build that thing into our view of the world. So, when we next encounter it, we can predict what is going to happen. We no longer react with surprise, because that takes energy. We just get on with it. So, life should be a breeze, should it not? But we also crave novelty. There is a good reason for this. The urge to explore enables us to identify new sources of food, new mates, whatever. This is the well-spring of our urge to innovate, our creativity.
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