The Universal Need to Share Information
Lesson 2:2
There is a universal need to share and receive news.
In this case, news is information that is novel and relatable to us. We like to say that the appetite for news is in our DNA, as we look for news to:
- Alert Us
- Divert Us
- Connect Us
News Alerts Us
Humans have always needed information that alerts them to new opportunities and to danger. If severe weather is bearing down on your town, wouldn’t you like to know?
Would you want to be able to act on the knowledge that a particular food on grocery store shelves is tainted with harmful bacteria? Stories like these alert us to dangers that threaten our health and our lives. (By the way, this is probably also why humans show a preference for bad news over good news and remember bad news longer.)
News Diverts Us
But not all news must have life-or-death consequences to attract our attention. News can also divert us — that is, provide us with entertaining or enlightening information. We often see news reports on movie actors, sports stars and other celebrities. Such reports may not necessarily be important, but they interest us nonetheless, and often serve as fodder for conversations among friends.
Trust us, it’s really nothing new.
The Roman Emperor Cicero ordered news about Rome delivered to him by messenger when he was away. He often complained that the news in these letters was a lot of tittle-tattle and gossip--which gladiator was paired off with which…who was on trial for what scandalous or embarrassing crime…or what rumor about the Emperor was making the rounds.
News Connects Us
Since the dawn of humanity, the power of stories told around the campfire or in the darkness of grass huts and caves was that they emphasized our shared experiences. That’s deep in our DNA.
Human interest stories, such as the way the ice bucket challenge raised $100 million to fight Lou Gehrig’s disease, connected us in our shared humanity. And studying the stories of other people helps us rehearse how we’ll write our own stories.
News reports on natural disasters and humanitarian crises can reach consumers on the other side of the globe, create a feeling of empathy. These human interest stories elicit our emotions; they enable us to connect emotionally with people we have never met.
Many have acted on these feelings, donating money to charities and volunteering to assist those in need.
These three functions — to alert, to divert and to connect — give information the power to change the course of history or simply to make us laugh or cry or touch our hearts. But that power is a double-edged sword that can hurt as much as it helps. False reports shared through social media can cause social unrest or damage the reputation of an innocent person.
That sword is now in the hands of everyone with a laptop or a smartphone, and it must be used wisely.