Curiosity gives us the drive to learn and explore new things. The unbridled curiosity of children makes them masters of learning. This constant state of learning ensures the child’s brain retains maximum neuroplasticity, which then makes learning even easier. So the cycle of curiosity not only drives us to learn new things but makes it easier to learn new things as well. I suspect that we become more “set in our ways” as we get older because we stop learning and lose some of that “plasticity” in our brain, which makes curiosity and learning more difficult or painful.
The same curiosity and desire to satisfy that intense desire for what is new is the same force that seeks satisfaction as we scroll through social media feeds.
Interesting to think that the agent of such learning before social media, has become the agent of such time-wasting in those of us who have access to social media and instant-media entertainment options. We chase the context switch to satisfy our curiosity rather than learning real things to satisfy the itch.