One might wonder, what can be so captivating about something that is only mildly interesting to make a netizen browse such content for hours? While the answer to that likely differs with each person, chances are that all of them are led by curiosity; to some extent, at least.

“Curiosity motivates a wide range of behaviors. It makes us open a bag when we don’t know what’s inside, ask friends a million questions, look things up, scan a new situation, and test our predictions—will this hold me up if I step on it, for instance?” Dr. Susan Engel told Bored Panda, adding that every person is different in regards to the level of curiosity and what it is directed at.

“A combination of factors determine a person’s level and kind of curiosity,” Dr. Engel continued, pointing out that curiosity tends to be associated, to some degree, with levels of intelligence. “It’s also deeply influenced by the way adults spoke with you when you were very young and associated with temperament, too; with how comfortable you are with novelty, for instance.”

“Curiosity is the magic potion that leads to learning, which makes it all the more important that parents and teachers nurture it in childhood,” Engel told Bored Panda.

Data suggests that quite a few people see said potion as a key element of a successful future. A survey carried out in 2018 found that as much as 94% of parents believe that curious children are more likely to become successful adults.

According to another expert, Dr. Diane Hamilton, curiosity plays a role in every aspect of our day-to-day lives. “Our curiosity determines our interest in doing things, from whether we want to learn something new, hike a new trail, or seek a job that fulfills us,” she told Bored Panda.

“Without curiosity, we would be in limbo, remaining in status-quo behaviors and leading rather dull lives. That is a significant problem in the workplace and why I work with so many organizations to build a culture of curiosity. When we spark curiosity, we create innovation, engagement, and productivity.”

According to Dr. Hamilton, we are all born with high curiosity levels, but they decline at around the age of five. “My research for the Curiosity Code Index (CCI) found that four things inhibit curiosity and reduce our levels: fear, assumptions, technology, and environment (FATE).

“Firstly, we often fear asking questions for fear of looking stupid. Secondly, the voice in our head might tell us that it assumes we won't like something because it would be too difficult. Thirdly, we might over- or under-utilize technology, and lastly, everyone in our environment—family, friends, teachers, and anyone with whom we have had contact—might influence our curiosity through their lack of support.”

The same way fears, technology, and people do, culture, too, can influence our curiosity. Dr. Hamilton, who discussed the topic in two of her books—Cracking the Curiosity Code and The Power of Perception—told Bored Panda: 

“Culture falls into the environmental category, which is one of the four factors of FATE. Anyone in our circle of influence, like friends, family, and others, shows us how our culture accepts or rejects our actions.

“Culture is a significant influencer and teaches us if something is a good or wrong way to behave. Consider a culture where women are not supposed to work. Then, a woman's curiosity about job potential would be quite different.”

Closely linked with another inhibitor of curiosity, technology, the internet seems to be a double-edged sword when it comes to a person’s eagerness to familiarize themselves with the unknown.

“I think for some people, online access to information is a boon to curiosity,” Dr. Engel shared. “And research has shown that feeding curiosity is the best way to increase it. So, being able to answer one’s questions online can fuel the fire of curiosity.

“On the other hand, answering a specific question—when did the continents break apart, how is Alzheimer's diagnosed, what is neoliberalism, for instance—is very different from surfing the internet for distraction and passive entertainment. To the extent that those activities preoccupy people, the internet depresses curiosity.”

“Internet content can spark curiosity by putting images out there that intrigue us,” Dr. Hamilton pointed out. “Sometimes, a picture brings back a memory from childhood. Like that voice in our heads that told us we might not like something or things might be too hard, sometimes that voice can be positive, telling us that an image was something we enjoyed. There is little risk of clicking on a picture to see what intrigued us. When we are safely behind a screen, it can make us more adventurous to explore random pictures.”

If you want to see how browsing random images affects your curiosity, check out this guy photoshopping himself into random pictures next; but if you’d rather stick to something you already know to be at least ‘Mildly Interesting’, feel free to scroll through our previous editions on the subreddit here or here.