According to Steven Wooding, who is a member of the Omni Calculator project and the Institute of Physics in the United Kingdom, and the founder of the Weird Units Converter, there's something universally human about our fascination with trivia.
Speaking for Bored Panda's publication on 'WTF Facts', a similar internet project to 'Factbytes', Wooding said that people like to help others by sharing their knowledge; that's why society values intelligence so much. Essentially, these interactions boil down to delivery.
"It can be a negative behavior if someone uses their superior intelligence to belittle other people," he said.
"As with most things, we need to find a happy balance. Looking at the big picture, humans have had extraordinary success in evolutionary terms by sharing knowledge," he said that there's a correlation between the two.
We get a lot out of it. For example, experts say that playing trivia games can provide a dopamine rush much like gambling, but without the negative effects.
Whether we're playing Trivial Pursuit at home or attending a pub quiz night, the basic premise remains the same: we experience the thrill of providing correct answers to questions about lesser-known facts.
"You get a rush or a neuroreward signal or a dopamine burst from winning,” John Kounios, Ph.D., professor of psychology and director of the doctoral program in applied cognitive and brain sciences at Drexel University in Pennsylvania, told Healthline.
“I think whenever you’re challenged with a trivia question and you happen to know it, you get a rush. It’s sort of like gambling.”
Kounios said the benefits can also be compared to those of playing a video game.
"I don’t think there are any pitfalls," he said. "Like anything else that’s fun, it takes up time," he explained.
A librarian from California, Sarah Kishler, loves trivia games and enjoys attending a monthly pub trivia night in which a team of librarians participate.
"Learning facts so that I can get better at trivia is definitely a passion of mine," she also told Healthline. "Getting a question right is definitely very satisfying to me."
