Have you ever been in a situation where you were listening to a playlist in a cafe or on the radio, and you didn't even know the list of songs, but you felt comfortable listening to them? Sometimes, the songs played were even ones we had never heard before. So why do we rarely complain, "ahh, the song is not good," and instead enjoy the random songs being played?

This phenomenon is called the Element of Surprise, a situation where we cannot control what we are enjoying, and our brains choose to follow and enjoy the current situation. For example, in the music scenario, we have no power to change the songs in the cafe or on the radio according to our wishes, so we have to enjoy all the songs that come up.

Spotify uses this method to create features such as "Play random song," "Shuffle," "Made For You Playlist," and others. These features create the impression that we do not know what song will be played next, and every song played forces us to "just enjoy it" even though we can still change the song on Spotify.

Interestingly, this element of surprise is not just limited to music. The same concept is used by platforms like TikTok. When you open TikTok, you never know what video will come up next on your feed. This unpredictability keeps you engaged and excited to see what’s next. The algorithm curates content based on your interests, but the surprise element of not knowing exactly what you’ll see next is what makes the experience so addictive.

TikTok’s endless stream of random, yet tailored videos capitalizes on our love for surprises. Each swipe brings something new and unexpected, keeping users glued to their screens. This method taps into the same psychological principles as the surprise element in music, providing a continuous flow of dopamine hits that make the platform incredibly engaging and hard to put down.

That's why we never get bored listening to songs on the radio or in cafes where we don't even know what songs will be played next. The element of surprise keeps us engaged and enjoying the experience.

Thank you for reading this random writing, Enjoy Your Day :)