It seems you’re implying these signals are accurate, that this increased thought leads to actually more useful phrases. We’ve then adapted to remember these phrases more easily.
I don’t think that’s the case. It’s easier to remember all sorts of rhyming things besides advice. The article explains the semantic narrowing that accounts for it. “Blue shoe, red bed” is going to be easier to remember than “Green shoe, white bed”.
I actually take rhyming advice as a strong indicator of low quality. It is much, much easier to come up with a rhyme than to accurately find the effect, if any, between drink order and hangover. But, the rhyming sticks in people’s heads. This gives it a free pass. Non-rhyming phrases, non-beautiful phrases, have to survive on their own merit.
I took it not so much that the increased thought leads to more useful phrases, but that people are more likely to exert this effort toward things they think are useful, rather than lies.
You are going to remember "righty-tighty, lefty-loosey" better than "blue shoe, red bed" because you think it more useful. And you are vastly more likely to put effort into teaching the former to others.
When designing rhymes less for your own benefit and more for others, like advertising slogans, this obviously doesn't hold as well.
You might be an exception, an outlier, like many on HN, in regards to this effect. What applies to most people is more probable not to apply to me or you because we're self selected here, a bubble. This is given you're not either bluffing or constructed an illusory belief.
My reasoning for disbelieving that valuing rhyming advice is a human adaptation from experiencing high quality rhyming advice stands on its own, separate from my reasoning for personally devaluing rhyming advice.
If they said that part of the reason that rhyming advice is sticky is people mistakenly believe that more effort went it to, that seems right.
I don’t think that’s the case. It’s easier to remember all sorts of rhyming things besides advice. The article explains the semantic narrowing that accounts for it. “Blue shoe, red bed” is going to be easier to remember than “Green shoe, white bed”.
I actually take rhyming advice as a strong indicator of low quality. It is much, much easier to come up with a rhyme than to accurately find the effect, if any, between drink order and hangover. But, the rhyming sticks in people’s heads. This gives it a free pass. Non-rhyming phrases, non-beautiful phrases, have to survive on their own merit.