I was impressed by the responses. It's clear these questions can be intelligently answered in a wide variety of ways.
I hope to post some of what I learned in the next couple of days but before I do, do any of you university-affiliated people have access to this article: Interest -- The Curios Emotion? If so, could you send it along? It should help answer some of the questions.
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Earlier: Questions about interestingness
*Peter Singer and Christian Ethics*
1 hour ago