Status Updates From The Explorer's Gene: Why We...

“The trajectory of adulthood is toward ever greater efficiency, narrower focus, and well-worn routines that make each day more and more similar to the last. Exploration is the antihabit, the antidote to a diminished palette of life choices.
We're wired to seek out the unknown, to embrace the challenges we find there, and to find meaning in the pursuit.”

“5 Rules for How to Explore Better:

1. Explore then Exploit
2. Seek the Uncertainty Sweet Spot
3. Play More
4. Minimize Regret (by choosing optimistically)
5. Embrace the Struggle (more challenging paths often turn out to feel the most meaningful)”

“You can't tie your self-worth to the prospect that you'll be better tomorrow, but probing the outer limits of my capabilities remains among the most profound and meaningful forms of exploration in my life.”

“There's always another rung on the ladder, another land to be discovered. If you manage to stop caring about the next rung, the whole pursuit loses its meaning. But if you imagine that lasting happiness awaits there, you're doomed to disappointment.”

“I haven't found any universal formula for choosing between these two paths. Sometimes you need to explore; sometimes you need to exploit; and sometimes, as Kenny Rogers suggests, you need to walk away. There are times too when you can do both at once: appreciate where you are while simultaneously gazing at the horizon.”

Seems like they’re framing technology as an easy way to get the ingredients that make exploring the world fulfilling, but in this you miss the learning about the environment firsthand that comes with exploring and are instead learning within the confines of an orchestrated world

“People who score highly (on the Meaningfulness of Effort scale) tend to report greater levels of job and life satisfaction; they make more money and have higher-status jobs; they're happier (or in more technical terms, have greater subjective well-being). They have fewer mental health issues and-despite loving the grind — lower rates of burnout.”

On play:

“It’s the behavior that humans will gravitate toward when they are fit and taken care of and not stressed and all that stuff."

“The Flynn effect says we're getting smarter, but the Torrance data says we're getting less imaginative and innovative. That's a problem, because by one estimate, the Torrance Tests predict adult creative achievement three times more accurately than IQ tests.”

On exploring:
“Slope-chasing: seeking just the right dose of uncertainty to enable you to generate and resolve prediction error as rapidly as possible.”

On play:
“Slope-building: deliberately choosing the rules of your game to create new uncertainty and then resolve it.