The Art of Curiosity

Many cultures have passed down stories and fairy tales that deal with the theme of curiosity. We all have our favorites: Pandora, Rapunzel, Alice in Wonderland… the list goes on and on.

In general, our storytelling mythology casts curiosity in the role of risk; only those who go a little too far can discover how far they can go. Curiosity is the stuff of the hero’s journey, which also often invites the protagonist to do something they are not supposed to do. Paradoxically, given our attachments to authority and social order, this is a good thing.

As Oscar Wilde put it, “What is termed Sin is an essential element of progress. Without it the world would stagnate, or grow old, or become colourless. By its curiosity Sin increases the experience of the race. Through its intensified assertion of individualism it saves us from monotony of type. In its rejection of the current notions about morality, it is one with the higher ethics.” 

Thomas Hobbes was more blunt: “Curiosity is the lust of the mind.”

But outside the world of story, in real life, curiosity meets our deepest needs for understanding the world and our place in it. Curiosity also brings us closer together. Curiosity immediately establishes a level playing field between people. In relationships, curiosity is a standard of care.

Instead of saying, “Here’s what I think,” or “You know what you should do,” curiosity invites us to ask: “What do you think?” or, “How is that for you?” Curiosity opens the door for engagement via expression and contribution. And when we’re really, truly curious, we empathize with each other. Curiosity is less about offering an insight or a solution, and more about seeking and receiving information. Here is a particularly artful illustration:

A wise developer once told me that every good piece of software is an act of empathy. To meet others’ needs, we have to find out what they need, and that requires curiosity. 

Curiosity is worth practicing. That’s how we get better at it. When it’s done particularly well, curiosity can be elevated to an art form. 

For example, take this beauty:

This is now the cover art for our CURIOUS AF experience. If you have the paid membership subscription to CURIOUS AF, you already own it (here is a screenshot of OpenSea, the eBay for Web3):

Curiosity is what makes life worth living. I am literally Curious AF. And now you can be too! Click HERE to unlock your free membership subscription. 

Here is a taste of what I’m reading, watching, and thinking about.

Last week I bragged on the 1980s, and Rollie replied on behalf of the Sixties. Rollie, we need to have a longer discussion about this, but in the meantime I’m gifting you a lifetime premium membership to CURIOUS AF because over the years you’ve always made me think and I love that. Thank you!

There are cases to be made for most decades, and today I’m thinking about the 1930s. That’s when Marian Anderson gave an earth-shattering concert from the steps of the Lincoln Monument that was a defining moment for the Civil Rights movement, 24 years before Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stood in the same spot and said, “I have a dream.” Ms. Anderson’s moment is the next design in my Classical Concert T-Shirt series. Next week’s newsletter will contain a special offer for subscribers, so if you haven’t already CLICK HERE and join the fun.

When I was a student at UCLA, I had the good fortune to talk with Bill Schopf, Director of the Center for the Study of Evolution and the Origin of Life. Bill is amazing in two ways: 1) He has rightly won just about every accolade imaginable for extending our understanding of life on Earth, and 2) He talks like a normal human being you’d want to have a beer with. I remember Bill saying, “People think evolution works gradually, over generations spanning hundreds of thousands of years, but that’s not the whole story. When the water rises, you grow fins and gills or you die.” Recently I was doing some research for a book proposal and I ran across a paper by Niles Eldredge and Steven Jay Gould that makes a similar point. Punctuated Equilibria: An Alternative to Phyletic Gradualism is sexier than it sounds (unless you’re already into that sort of thing, in which case I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s plenty sexy), because it lays the framework for looking at evolution through a lens of radical change that doesn’t take as long as you think. In fact, it’s the way we think that is in particular need of conscious evolution at this very moment: “The expectations of theory color the world to such a degree that new notions seldom arise from facts collected under the influence of old pictures of the world. New pictures must cast their influence before facts can be seen in different perspective.”

Every year, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology hosts the Ig Nobel awards, “irreverent accolades given for achievements that ‘first make us laugh, then make us think.’” One of this year’s awards went to a team of Japanese researchers who found that mammals can breathe through their anuses: “After a series of tests on mice, rats and pigs, Japanese scientists found the animals absorb oxygen delivered through the rectum, work that underpins a clinical trial to see whether the procedure can treat respiratory failure. They began the work in the Covid crisis when many hospitals were desperately short of mechanical ventilators to support breathing in people with severe infections.”

A teenager built a functional fusion reactor. Of course, this is something a 12 year-old can do, but something else got my attention this time around. Sure, it’s impressive to see a kid achieve plasma, the fourth state of matter which requires temperatures hotter than the sun and can provide an inexhaustible source of clean energy. But it’s all the more impressive because he did it in captivity: “The accomplishment is believed to be the first of its kind in a school environment.” Progress indeed!  

The sound of air purifiers and distant sirens as wildfire smoke continues to billow over Southern California. My heart goes out to everyone in harm’s way.

You go through these phases. That's how life is. Over the long term, you just can't do one thing.

– Ry Cooder

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Header image: Engraving from the Dell’Historia Naturale (1599) showing Naples apothecary Ferrante Imperato’s cabinet of curiosities, the first pictorial representation of such a collection, via publicdomainreview.org.

David Preston

Educator & Author

​https://davidpreston.net​

Latest book: ACADEMY OF ONE