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Guess what, Mango? What's that, Will? So earlier this week, we talked about how curiosity is strongest when we encounter things that hit a certain intellectual sweet spot, I guess you'd say. So neither too

familiar nor too confusing. And it turns out the same thing is true for babies. So this comes

from a 2012 study that tested baby's reaction to a variety of colorful animations. Now, researchers

discovered that the babies were most likely to look away from images that were either very simple or very complex.

So in between images held their attention, which babies can be interpreted as a measure of what they're curious about.

You know, I would have thought that they would have been most interested in the simplest animations, which, you know, I don't mean to offend babies.

Yeah, I know you're out to offend babies.

But from an evolutionary standpoint, this actually makes perfect sense.

So babies need to be selective with their curiosity.

They don't want to waste their precious cognitive resources on stuff they already know,

or the things that underdeveloped brains can't possibly grasp.

That's overwhelming.

So this way they can maximize their understanding of the world around them,

which allows them to develop the behaviors that they need to survive and thrive, hopefully.

And beyond their response to animated images in the lab, there's this whole body of research

showing that even very young infants take a systematic approach to exploring their environment.

So if you think about it, that's pretty much what happens when they put new toys in their mouth.

So by doing that, they're answering multiple questions.

Is this edible?

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