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The allure of the unknown in a tamed, mapped, and homogenized world

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 November 2022

Liane Gabora Open the ORCID record for Liane Gabora [Opens in a new window]  and
Isabel Gomez
Liane Gabora
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology (Okanagan Campus), University of British Columbia, Kelowna, BCV1V 1V7, Canada liane.gabora@ubc.ca; https://people.ok.ubc.ca/lgabora/ mislabel.gomez@ubc.ca
Isabel Gomez
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology (Okanagan Campus), University of British Columbia, Kelowna, BCV1V 1V7, Canada liane.gabora@ubc.ca; https://people.ok.ubc.ca/lgabora/ mislabel.gomez@ubc.ca
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Abstract

As the physical world becomes tamed and mapped out, opportunities to experience the unknown become rarer; imaginary worlds provide a much-needed sense of potentiality. Potentiality is central to the Self-Other Re-organization theory of cultural evolution, which postulates that creativity fuels cumulative cultural change. We point to evidence that fear affects, not the magnitude of exploration, but how cautiously it proceeds.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 45 , 2022 , e282
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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