Definition
VIA: Taking an interest in ongoing experience for its own sake; finding subjects and topics fascinating; exploring and discovering.
Wikipedia: A quality related to inquisitive thinking, such as exploration, investigation, and learning, evident in humans and other animals
Cambridge Dictionary: An eager wish to know or learn about something
It’s important to understand, curiosity isn’t measured in a person’s ability to create new ideas, it is more a set of traits that enables exploration and increases the probability of generating new ideas. These scientists have defined five dimensions of curiosity:
1. Joyous Exploration — this is the prototype of curiosity — the recognition and desire to seek out new knowledge and information, and the subsequent joy of learning and growing.
2. Deprivation Sensitivity — this dimension has a distinct emotional tone, with anxiety and tension being more prominent than joy — pondering abstract or complex ideas, trying to solve problems, and seeking to reduce gaps in knowledge.
3. Stress Tolerance — this dimension is about the willingness to embrace the doubt, confusion, anxiety, and other forms of distress that arise from exploring new, unexpected, complex, mysterious, or obscure events.
4. Social Curiosity — wanting to know what other people are thinking and doing by observing, talking, or listening in to conversations.
5. Thrill Seeking — the willingness to take physical, social, and financial risks to acquire varied, complex, and intense experiences.
You can actually test how you rate against these scales, instructions and template questions here.
Examples
The below examples highlight the importance that curiosity plays in human history and development. Curiosity certainly makes our lives richer.
Penicillin: Alexander Fleming’s curiosity about a mold contaminating a petri dish led to the discovery of penicillin, revolutionizing medicine.
Gravity: Isaac Newton’s observation of a falling apple sparked his curiosity about gravity, leading to the development of his laws of motion and universal gravitation.
X-rays: Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen’s curiosity about the effects of cathode rays led to the accidental discovery of X-rays, a technology with profound medical and scientific applications.
Geometry: The ancient Greeks’ curiosity about shapes, numbers, and spatial relationships laid the groundwork for geometry, including the discovery of pi (π).
Evolutionary Theory: Charles Darwin’s observations during his voyage on the HMS Beagle, and his subsequent research, led to the development of the theory of evolution by natural selection, a cornerstone of modern biology.
Suggested Track
This could take many forms and have many desired goals. For example:
Fostering curiosity within other initiation activities: A common thread of initiation rites across cultures is introducing young people to secrets that are only revealed to adults. Young people approaching initiation become curious about this knowledge, and indeed the unknown elements of the experiences into which they’re about to embark. This is usually a culturally strong tradition, often closely linked to religion. Nevertheless, there are secular ways of providing this experience, for example, a young person could be told they’re taking a trip with a parent or mentor with the details of which will remain unknown to them apart from the departure date.
Establishing a track focussed largely on curiosity: Develop a checklist of activities from the examples below or beyond. At regular intervals discuss the activities and explore how they fostered curiosity. Finish the track with one or more of the challenges.
Literature, Art and Media
“The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
“A Short History of Nearly Everything” by Bill Bryson
“What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions” by Randall Munroe the associated What if? blog
The case for curiosity-driven research TED presentation by Suzie Sheehy
How to spark your curiosity, scientifically TED presentation by Nadya Mason
How I built a toaster — from scratch TED Presentation by Thomas Thwaites
Burn your Maps – 2016 Film
Living – 2022 Film
Mentors
Events
Blazing Swan: Annual regional Burning Man event held near Kulin, Western Australia, featuring temporary community, artistic expression, and burning a wooden effigy.
Garma Festival: Australia’s largest Indigenous gathering, a four-day annual festival celebrating Yolngu culture in remote northeast Arnhem Land, Northern Territory.
Places
Murujuga National Park and Dolphin Island: Home to the largest and most diverse collection of rock art in the world with over 1,000,000 petroglyphs believed to have been produced over a period of 50,000years. Some very thought provoking questions are raised when visiting and studying this place:
- How much leisure time did the artists have to enable them to carge these works into some of the hardest in the world?
- Understanding the time scales of the site and evolution of the art:
- Works of animals and plants not extinct
- Art works old enough that the rock surface has re-oxidised
- The difference in style (and effort) of works etched in relief (where the whole image, or in some cases the entire background leaving the image protruding is etched into the rock) verse those outline etched
- The relative ease with which industrial precincts can be built, remain operation and expand despite the global significance of this art collection in the context of human history and anthropology
- What enabled one civilisation to successfully live here for 40,000 years or more? How did the environment change over that time? How did they travel to the islands? Where did they access water on the islands?
Gravity Discovery Centre – Gingin: Offers diverse experiences ranging from astronomy and astrophysics to indigenous culture and biodiversity. Highlights that may spark curiosity include:
- The Leaning Tower of Gingin at 45-metre that leans at an angle of 15 degrees and allows visitors to recreate Galileo’s famous experiments by dropping objects from the top.
- Cosmology gallery with a timeline of the universe which highlights the relatively tiny fraction of earth’s history that includes homo sapiens.
- Nighttime stargazing experiences.
Experiences
Sea kayaking trip through the Dampier archipelago immersed in Murujuga.
Big History Project: Complete the Big History Project course.
Challenges
Art of the Mundane
Be curious about the mundane by creating some artwork of a mundane subject (any kind of art form). Concentrate on the minute details of the subject, within this you may find surprises.
Interview
Randomly pick a person and learn deeply about them by asking a set of ten questions. You must ask at least one follow-on questions for each prompted question. Example questions below:Icebreakers & General Interests:
- What’s a skill you’ve learned that you’re particularly proud of?
- If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would you go and why?
- What’s a book, movie, or TV show that has really resonated with you and why?
- What’s a cause or social issue you’re passionate about and why?
- What’s something you’ve learned recently that has changed your perspective?
- What are some of your favorite ways to spend quality time with loved ones?
- If you could have any superpower, what would it be and how would you use it?
- What’s a hobby or activity that helps you relax and recharge?
- If you could have dinner with any historical figure, who would it be and why?
- What’s one thing you’d like to learn more about me based on our conversation?
Curiosity vs Problem
Use curiosity to solve a problem or overcome a challenge.
- Think of a challenge or problem you are currently facing.
- Lean into your curiosity about the problem. This will likely involve acknowledging and accepting the unknown, being resilient enough to pursue more knowledge / explore further despite set backs, and leaning into the problem or challenge (which will may courage)