Evolution is partly to blame for our obsession with Brangelina

I’ve never seen a movie featuring either Brad Pitt or his soon-to-be ex-wife, Angelina Jolie And yet, I’m not immune to the draw of celebrity gossip. Though I have trouble telling Brad from Chris Hemsworth, I still want to know what happened with Brangelina.

I’m not alone, and there is a scientific reason for the obsession. In fact, our brains adapted long ago to be deeply interested in the beautiful and famous among us, says Daniel Kruger, a psychologist at the University of Michigan. Just consider our close relative, the monkey. Scientists at Duke University made four monkeys sit at a computer and look at pictures of other monkeys they knew. Each time they looked at a picture, they received a certain amount of cherry juice. They got...