This ties in with the Greek origin of the word, mysterion, which denotes a secret rite
by which a selected individual is initiated into the knowledge that remains hidden for
the non-initiated. This word itself derives from the verb muein, which means “to close
the eyes”. Closing your eyes makes you temporarily blind (implying lack of prospect),
while maintaining the ability of opening them later (thus revealing a new prospect).
Assuming that prospect can be quantified, we may define the extent or
magnitude of a mystery as the extent of the prospect that potentially is to be revealed
by resolving the mystery. While prospect invites exploitation of the prospected
resources, mystery invites exploration [Spielberger & Starr, 1994]. The larger the
mystery, the more knowledge can potentially be gained by exploring it, and therefore
the larger the potential reward in terms of increased fitness.
Mystery, in the sense of a perceived gap in one’s knowledge, is a prime trigger
of the emotion of curiosity. This emotion tends to strongly direct or drive a person’s
further course of action, as the subject feels an urge to “fill the gap” by seeking
further information and thus to resolve the mystery [Loewenstein, 1994; Menon &
Soman, 2002; Heath & Heath, 2007]. The more an individual already knows about a
situation, the stronger the urge to fill in the knowledge that still seems to be missing.
Therefore, a mystery appears most attractive when it is surrounded by prospect. Why
is the attraction of mystery so immediate, intense and difficult to resist? Loewenstein
[1994] explains this need to fill a knowledge gap by the desire for cognitive closure
(which is also apparent in Gestalt perception). But from an evolutionary perspective
such cognitive needs should not be seen as primary, but as derivable from the
fundamental value of fitness.
Imagine an agent in a landscape that is mostly visible, although some part of it
is hidden by a rock or bush. Assuming that nothing in the prospect appears
particularly dangerous or attractive, where are the truly important disturbances (e.g.
predators) or affordances (e.g. prey) most likely to be? In the hidden part! There are
two arguments for this higher probability. The first—trivial or tautological—reason is
that important diversions can only exist in the unknown part of the environment, since
we started by assuming that they are not in the prospect part (if they were, they are
likely to be the focus of attention, rather than the remaining mystery). A more positive
reason can be inferred from the nature of common diversions. As we noted earlier,
affordances (such as food or gold) for which there is strong demand are likely to
already have been seized by other agents. The ones most likely to remain are the ones
that are difficult to find—which means that they are likely to be hidden within a
“mystery zone”. It is by exploring that mystery that the agent is most likely to get an
edge over its competitors. Disturbances, on the other hand, have a reason to remain
out of view if they are embodied as intentional agents, such as predators, enemies or
criminals, with a motivation to attack the present agent.
Therefore, the priority for the agent would be to inspect the hidden section
(preferably from a safe position), and thus try to fill the gap in its prospect. Ignoring
that mystery may cost the agent dearly, in terms of subjecting itself to an unknown
danger and/or missing out on a great opportunity. Even when in the large majority of
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