Modern technology hampers performance, but we let that happen because we naturally strive for information.

Although we can’t hold buzzing smartphones or flashing TV screens entirely responsible for distracting us, it’s nonetheless clear that modern technology has put considerable strain on our cognitive control.

More precisely, modern technologies exploit our brain’s intrinsic susceptibility to interference. They impede our performance and sidetrack us from our goals. You know the feeling: even though you’re in an important meeting you just can’t help glancing at your phone. Or maybe you totally zone out at the dinner table because the game is playing on the TV next door, and you can hear the crowd reaching fever pitch.

The obvious solution might be to keep clear of cafés, TVs and the internet when you’ve got an objective you want to achieve. But it’s not that simple.

The truth is, we let ourselves be distracted because these interferences are a basic facet of what it is to be human.

Our primitive primate brains were always on the lookout for food, as that’s what we needed to survive. Nowadays, this instinct remains, but it expresses itself as a search for information as well as food.

Consequently, we get the same hit of satisfaction from activities like googling, Twitter browsing, or TV watching as we did when we were primates foraging for food.

Amazingly, even when this behavior hampers performance and interferes with our goals, we let it continue.

It’s actually just part of being human and, interestingly, it’s a drive that’s linked to our internal reward systems. For instance, a 2009 study of macaque monkeys showed that when primates receive information, their dopamine systems are activated just as they are when food is found.

That may explain why we end up juggling smartphones, TVs and tablets. We crave that hit of dopamine.