The Hole In Your Brain That Makes You Doomscroll
The Rest Is Science
Jul 19, 2026 21:00
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Why can't you leave a sealed envelope unopened?
Professor Hannah Fry begins by refusing to allow Michael Stevens to open a mystery envelope addressed to him.
A small act of torture that turns out to be the perfect way in to today's subject: curiosity. What is it, why does it feel almost physical, and how far will people actually go just to resolve a nagging uncertainty?
From there Hannah and Michael trace curiosity's surprising reputation through history; how for well over a thousand years it was branded a vice, even a sin, before a couple of inventions flipped it into a virtue almost overnight.
Along the way they delve into the psychology and neuroscience of this itch. Why your brain can't stop worrying at a missing answer, why getting something wrong could be the key to remembering it, and which animals share the drive (and one surprising creature that doesn't).
Plus curiosity's darker side, the way the modern world has learned to hijack the very same circuitry, and a rather lovely story about how a Mars rover got its name.
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