Selective exposure

Biological Parallel

Birds preferentially forage in familiar areas even when novel patches have higher food density—selective exposure to known environments over potentially better unknowns. The logic: familiar areas have predictable risks; novel areas might contain hidden predators. But this creates information bubbles: birds never discover superior patches because they avoid exploring contradictory (unfamiliar) environments. The mechanism: comfort with the known outweighs potential gains from the unknown. Familiarity is its own reward, independent of objective quality.