New : Understanding Our Need for Novelty and Change

An exploration of how humans respond to novelty from the New York Times–bestselling author of Rapt

Why are we attuned to the latest headline, diet craze, smartphone, and fashion statement? Why do we relish a change of scene, eye attractive strangers, and develop new interests?

Follow a crawling baby around and you’ll see that right from the beginning, nothing excites us more than something new and different. Our unique human brains are biologically primed to engage with and even generate novelty. This “neophilia” has enabled us to thrive in a world of cataclysmic change, but now we confront an unprecedented deluge of new things—one that shows no sign of slowing. In New acclaimed behavioral science writer Winifred Gallagher, using cutting-edge research and interviews with countless experts, shows us how we can use our adaptive gift to navigate more skillfully through our rapidly changing world by focusing on the new things that really matter.

Winifred Gallagher is the author of several books including Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life, House Thinking, and Just the Way You Are. She has written for numerous publications, such as the Atlantic Monthly, Rolling Stone, and the New York Times. She lives in Dubois, Wyoming.