Why are we more interested in some things?

You do something, it seems to you that you have done something great. You present it to people. It doesn't get the reactions you expect. Maybe one or two people are interested, that's all. Maybe you are surprised, maybe you are disappointed.

Then you analyze what people are interested in. Sometimes the things that are liked seem like nonsense to you. You can't make sense of it.

Yes, what goes on in people's minds? Why is everyone interested in different things? What is it that attracts people to certain things?

Is it because it's interesting? It's possible.

Popular? That's also possible.

But sometimes, even though it is almost the same thing, one thing attracts attention while another is not at all interesting.

Example? Once upon a time an artist stuck a banana on a wall with a gray tape and it made news around the world. Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan's "banana taped to the wall". I think this work was even sold for 120 thousand dollars.

However, we see bananas every day in every market. None of them make news around the world. However, maybe it is briefly mentioned as news on some televisions that give market prices, that's all.

Does something attract attention when it comes up for the first time?

I don't think so, I think there are other factors. I can bring something up for the first time as much as I want, it won't have the same effect as a famous person. So what someone who gets attention does is a factor for getting attention.

That's understandable, but it's still not a complete answer to my question. Sometimes what a non-famous person does can also attract a lot of attention. Suddenly someone or something becomes popular.

What are the triggers for that sudden excessive interest?

Maybe there is no complete answer to this, maybe it is not possible to categorize the factors in this sense. But it is still possible to make some evaluations.

In the living world, colors stand out to attract attention. Bright, eye-catching colors are a method used by some creatures to attract attention. The male of a peacock does his best to attract the attention of the female with his colorful tail. But not all peacock males have the same characteristics. The female is attracted to only one of the colorful tails around him. So bright colors alone are not enough.

Flowers are also colorful, but not only to please the eye, but also the scent is a factor. When a bee moves pollen from one flower to another, it is to find the most fragrant flower essence for the honey it will make.

But again, this is not a complete answer to my question. People are also interested in colorful, fragrant things, but as I said, it seems like a natural behavior in daily life.

What I'm really curious about is, what is it that makes people interested in something out of the blue? Is there an explanation for that?

One day someone thinks of something new, like a messaging program, and suddenly everyone starts using it.

I think the explanation is convenience.

We no longer have to write long letters to communicate with someone on the other side of the world and wait months to hear back. Everyone uses messaging programs. Easier, faster, instant communication. And there is also the possibility of video calls.

This may be what I said. But I still feel like something is missing.

Do any of you remember the ICQ program? Or IRC, AOL, Xfire?

They were all popular at one time, but today most of us prefer to communicate via WhatsApp. We also use Telegram in our family, but as I said, these old applications have been forgotten. However, they all did more or less the same thing.

So what is the difference? Why did those old apps fall out of favor and we started using today's more popular apps?

Is it advertising? Yes, advertising has an effect, but if advertising was such a factor, Google's messaging program "Allo" would be more popular. Maybe some of you don't even know that such a messaging program exists. So the advertising campaign was not enough.

Sometimes a person comes up to you and suddenly you feel warm inside. You feel a positive energy. I've written before that there are millions of smells and that our noses are very sensitive to smells, even if we don't realize it. This could be a factor too. Chemistry!

But we don't always come into contact with everyone so that we are chemically affected and attracted to them. And does WhatsApp have a scent that makes it so popular? Yes, chemistry is a factor, but that is not a complete answer to the question in my mind.

A singer, the songs he sings, his music, his appearance, his behavior, his gestures, the tone of his voice, his intonation, the timbre of his voice. All these things interest me and I like that artist.

But Louis Armstrong, he has a very cracked voice. I like him a lot too. For example, Robert Plant, the vocalist of Led Zeppelin, is not a very sympathetic person in appearance, but his songs are still in my ears. Roger Waters is capricious enough, but when it comes to Pink Floyd, after he left the band, no matter what the band did, they never regained their former glory.

What I'm saying is that it's not always being likeable, nice or compatible that attracts attention.

When different factors come together, perhaps an ambiance is achieved. Like adding salt and pepper to soup, or sugar to green beans. Sometimes it's necessary to have something incompatible in it for a certain flavor.

And I think another important factor in attracting attention is the butterfly effect. People see each other and become interested in a subject even if they are not really interested in it. In other words, fashion!

I think fashion is the most effective of all the factors I have mentioned so far. Fashion is actually a desire to copy. In a sense, it is imitation!

Parrots imitate a sound they hear. I find this parrot's mimicry a bit funny. But it seems that our human genes are a bit mixed with the genes of parrots. Fashion is important for many of us. And when something goes out of fashion, it is forgotten. Just like ICQ.

And maybe I should also consider practicality as a factor. Introduced in 1955, the ballpoint pen is still in use today without the slightest change in shape. I'm talking about the cheapest ones available in every stationery store, the simple plastic ballpoint pen.

Once upon a time in France, noble men wore pink clothes. It was fashionable. Today we dress our babies in pale pink if they are girls and pale blue if they are boys. It's fashionable again, because everyone does it. Because that's the choice when shopping in baby stores.

Yes, the reasons for the interest are varied. Some chemical, some physical. Everyone has different reasons. But for some reason, we are more interested in certain things. Aesthetic factors can play a role in this. The desire to imitate.

I think scientists should investigate, they will definitely prove it. I think we are related to parrots.

Love and regards to everyone from Moscow.