The desire to explore untouched wilderness is something that has been strongly selected for. The world has been colonized by those who had the greatest inclinat

The desire to explore untouched wilderness is something that has been strongly selected for. The world has been colonized by those who had the greatest inclination to explore the unknown. Non-human animals also, eventually, colonize areas beyond their point of origin, and this is no doubt driven partly by a desire to "explore". But humans, perhaps more than any other animal, are capable of having the idea of "exploring" as something that they can be obsessed by. And humans are less constrained by the need to constantly satisfy the basic necessities of life, which makes it possible for the dedicated explorer to go on extended exploring trips, exploring the world for its own sake. Also, it is part of human nature that different people in a social group develop different interests, which benefits the tribe via division of labour. So not everyone needs to be a committed explorer - it is enough for one mad explorer to go out exploring, and then come back to the tribe to report if they found something worth reporting.