In the remote past, human beings lived from the food that nature provides. This food was sparsely distributed and thus it required intelligent search or hunting strategies to get it. As the success of a food-gathering excursion was not guaranteed, such people had to store any extra (surplus) food in reservoirs, such as their own body or a safe place at home. Many of us still show hunter-gatherer behavior, in particular when information food (compare [2]) is concerned. We surf the Web and bookmark and download whatever might become useful at a later time. We have not properly adapted to the new situation that (information) food is not rare any longer. It remains available in the Web forever, and, thanks to ever better search engines, it can be accessed quickly when the concrete need arises (And just as overeating can lead to a fat, less mobile body, an uncontrolled information in-take may on the long run result in an immobile mind – excuse my little joke).
Interesting. This suggests that we should care what prospective friends are reading/listening to/watching. If, for example, they are overfed on limbaugh et al, then we shouldn’t expect to be able to make a dent in their convictions unless their basic “dietary” habits change.