Information Foraging Theory

There’s a relatively young concept within the world of cognitive science, “information foraging theory,” that compares the way we seek out information to the way foraging animals seek out food.

When animals forage, they use what might be thought of as complex algorithms (or heuristics) to help them determine what amount (and type) of effort is worth investing in what volume (and type) of energetic resources.

It’s a sort of cost-benefit analysis that takes into consideration how energetically expensive it can be to find, for instance, a clutch of berries, and whether consuming those berries will result in a net-gain of energy (in the form of calories), or if the animal will actually spend more energy finding and consuming them than they get in return (which isn’t sustainable over time).