Clearly this both requires, and enhances, the subject's rationality. There is no immediate gain, but there is almost certainly a long-term gain - greater ability to predict events and hence to manipulate them in the future.
It seems to be a characteristic unique to humanity - it is unlikely that other animals have it. It is also obvious that humans have it in different quantities. Some will spend their entire lives trying to understand the world around them - others will just sit and watch television.
Of course someone sitting and watching television may be undergoing the same thing at a different level. Trying to understand the social ramifications of a the serial infidelities of a favorite soap-opera star may be an enormous mental challenge for many, and may help them understand their own lives a bit better. Who knows?
See