Lures

I think the mind is innately curious. Deep in its core, inextricably like water is fluid, like fire rises, and like gases penetrate. I think it is attracted to novelty per natural law, a fundamental attribute of the mind, as one of air is to want to fill empty space.

And I think this attribute is that exploited when humans are lured into purchasing a new product, hiring some service, or more recently, into clicking on internet advertisements, YouTube videos, into engaging with social media, etc. In general, it can be exploited to attracted human attention, which in recent years has not only gained social value, but is also being more finely discerned, tracked, and measured.

Hence we see multitudes of posts, video titles, and internet advertisements with texts like: "The top ten island destinations this summer!", "The best way to keep your skin clear", "The three worst things to do when you like someone", and so on. These titles use superlatives to attract a person's attention. The topic is often of strong interest to a sizable amount of people, often triggers emotional responses, and is at times fairly unspoken about amongst people, either due to taboo or simply to it being niche.

In addition, the superlative, or a word that indicates the information is of an extreme nature in some way ("The insane...", "You're never gonna believe...", "Try not to laugh...", "What doctors don't want you to know", "5 things you've been doing wrong about <common activity>", "get any beautiful girl with this one weird trick") triggers the mind's attention towards novelty, and reinforces the emotional trigger by compounding it with mental attention. An extreme is some of the simplest information one can obtain and verify, since it simply extends a one-dimensional spectrum in our minds.

The possible results for an observer are:

1. I learn about this extreme, and it is new to me. I have then extended my conceptual spectrum, and there is new space in it now that I can explore, which tingles my curiosity.
2. I see this extreme, and I already knew it, or it is even less extreme than the one I already knew about. My mind feels satisfaction, perhaps pride, at knowing that it already knows what is purported as a novel claim, and I feel my own knowledge is correct and verified.
3. I see this extreme, and it is different from what I already knew, but it does not seem logical/consistent with reality. Then I can mentally justify the validity of my knowledge versus that of the claim, and feel argumentative or self-righteous about my truth, engaging my mind and emotions together in the process. I could also react by attempting to challenge my own previous belief, though taking that step requires some extra effort and time that is not always available during idle times.

In either case, all these possibilities offer novelty and mental engagement, which as mentioned, is a natural urge of the mind.

As modern life in general, and the internet experience in particular, become increasingly standardized and individualized, our opportunities for lively mental engagement have overall diminished, and an idle mind is common. It is on this idleness that these lures act, seducing it with new information, or triggering the emotions to produce the same effect.

I think it is important for people to recognize when these lures act upon them. Individuals have unique paths, roles, and choices in life. If lures can be manufactured so that the attention and actions (i.e. the energy) of the masses can be surreptitiously swayed this or that way, it allows hidden forces to sway these masses, and lead them to think and act without full knowledge of why. And that is a dangerous state of affairs, for without understanding of one's own behavior, a few wills can take over a vast many, and bias institutions like economies and elections towards those few. In addition, when lured by hidden forces, people's habits turn reactionary instead of conscious, and it makes it more difficult for each individual to rediscover their true choice.