A headline promises something without quite saying what. An email subject line hints at a mistake you might be making. A hook opens mid-story and makes you wait for the rest. All three are doing the same thing psychologically, and the theory behind it is more precise — and more useful — than "curiosity sells." The actual psychology behind it In 1994, Carnegie Mellon psychologist George Loewenstein proposed what's now called information gap theory. Curiosity, in his framing, i