Human consumption of clickbait seems to have strong similarities to our outsized appetites for fat and sugar. In regards to the tempting foods, these cravings a

Human consumption of clickbait seems to have strong similarities to our outsized appetites for fat and sugar. In regards to the tempting foods, these cravings are presumably artifacts of slow evolution; we evolved to an environment where we should seize every opportunity to consume these scarce, high-energy foods, and we have not yet adapted to the new reality where many people have plenty to eat. I wonder if there's some similar primitive drive behind the unhealthy appetite for clickbait; a yearning for information that may help us to survive and reproduce. Some of the high-performing headlines seem to frame the information as something that will affect the reader personally.