This might be more fundamental than I initially thought. If people have a preference for shared information, this provides an upward pressure on communication in general—there is now a reward for telling people things just because, and also a reward for listening to people tell you things. This is entirely separate from any instrumental value the shared information may have.
This might be more fundamental than I initially thought. If people have a preference for shared information, this provides an upward pressure on communication in general—there is now a reward for telling people things just because, and also a reward for listening to people tell you things. This is entirely separate from any instrumental value the shared information may have.