What Makes Something Interesting?
What Makes Something Interesting? Why some ideas grab our attention — and others never stand a chance Big-Picture Framing We ask “what makes something interesting?” whenever we’re bored in a meeting, hooked by a story, or puzzled by why one slide lands and another dies. At its core, interesting is a mix of surprise, personal relevance, and emotional spark. Seeing that pattern gives you a practical way to design better conversations, products, and decisions. Why “interesting” matters If you can explain why people find something interesting, you can reverse-engineer attention: make complex topics accessible, make dry work feel meaningful, and make your ideas easier to remember and act on. The Three Core Ingredients of Interesting Most of the time, “interesting” comes from three elements working together: Novelty — it’s new, unexpected, or breaks a pattern. Relevance — it connects to something we care about right now. Emotion — it makes us feel somethin...