4 Reasons Why Curiosity is Important and How to Develop It
The important thing is not to stop questioning… Never lose a holy curiosity.
Albert Einstein
Curiosity is an important trait of a genius. I don’t think you can find an intellectual giant who is not a curious person. Thomas Edison, Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Einstein, Richard Feynman, they are all curious characters. Richard Feynman was especially known for his adventures which came from his curiosity.
But why is curiosity so important? Here are four reasons:
- It makes your mind active instead of passive
Curious people always ask questions and search for answers in their minds. Their minds are always active. Since the mind is like a muscle which becomes stronger through continual exercise, the mental exercise caused by curiosity makes your mind stronger and stronger. - It makes your mind observant of new ideas
When you are curious about something, your mind expects and anticipates new ideas related to it. When the ideas come they will soon be recognized. Without curiosity, the ideas may pass right in front of you and yet you miss them because your mind is not prepared to recognize them. Just think, how many great ideas may have lost due to lack of curiosity? - It opens up new worlds and possibilities
By being curious you will be able to see new worlds and possibilities which are normally not visible. They are hidden behind the surface of normal life, and it takes a curious mind to look beneath the surface and discover these new worlds and possibilities. - It brings excitement into your life
The life of curious people is far from boring. It’s neither dull nor routine. There are always new things that attract their attention, there are always new ‘toys’ to play with. Instead of being bored, curious people have an adventurous life.
Now, knowing the importance of curiosity, here are some tips to develop it:
1. Keep an open mind
This is essential if you are to have a curious mind. Be open to learn, unlearn, and relearn. Some things you know and believe might be wrong, and you should be prepared to accept this possibility and change your mind.
2. Don’t take things as granted
If you just accept the world as it is without trying to dig deeper, you will certainly lose the ‘holy curiosity’. Never take things as granted. Try to dig deeper beneath the surface of what is around you.
3. Ask questions relentlessly
A sure way to dig deeper beneath the surface is asking questions: What is that? Why is it made that way? When was it made? Who invented it? Where does it come from? How does it work? What, why, when, who, where, and how are the best friends of curious people.
4. Don’t label something as boring
Whenever you label something as boring, you close one more door of possibilities. Curious people are unlikely to call something as boring. Instead, they always see it as a door to an exciting new world. Even if they don’t yet have time to explore it, they will leave the door open to be visited another time.
5. See learning as something fun
If you see learning as a burden, there’s no way you will want to dig deeper into anything. That will just make the burden heavier. But if you think of learning as something fun, you will naturally want to dig deeper. So look at life through the glasses of fun and excitement and enjoy the learning process..
6. Read diverse kinds of reading
Don’t spend too much time on just one world; take a look at another worlds. It will introduce you to the possibilities and excitement of the other worlds which may spark your interest to explore them further. One easy way to do this is through reading diverse kinds of reading. Try to pick a book or magazine on a new subject and let it feed your mind with the excitement of a new world.
WRITER'S BIOGRAPHY
Donald Latumahina
Donald Latumahina writes about personal growth and effectiveness at Life Optimizer. His mission is helping people live life to the fullest. You can read his featured posts on multiple topics.
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Comments
Dustin Wax says on November 14th, 2007 at 11:36 am
Great post. As a teacher, I struggle to activate and engage students’ curiosity, and as often than not, I fail. While certainly part of the burden lies with me to show why the stuff I teach is interesting, a good part also lies with students to sustain and feed their own curiosity — like a live musician, the response of the audience is essential to the performance of a teacher’s job!
Jon Boy says on November 15th, 2007 at 10:18 am
Nice post! I run an entire website based of this notion. Its called you guess it…”Curious? Read”. I write and find Curious stories and publish them on my blog http://curiousread
Check it out!
Jon Boy
Donald Latumahina says on November 15th, 2007 at 11:08 am
Dustin,
I was a teacher myself, so I can attest what you said. Curiosity makes a lot of difference. Curious students are like sponge which effortlessly absorb whatever material I gave. And of course, they also made me more excited to teach :)
Jon,
Interesting blog; the first one I know which is based on the topic of curiosity.
Jorge says on November 24th, 2007 at 4:16 am
Curiosity breeds experimentation which in itself breeds innovation.
Rags says on December 7th, 2007 at 11:28 am
Working with children, this is one area that we may be losing fast with a generation so used to getting instant gratification.
Rivini says on March 11th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Hi,
This is an excellent artical.
As a lecturer in the university I fel how far student curiosity has been killed by the education system from their early childhood.
Norm says on July 2nd, 2008 at 12:06 pm
Donald, I agree strongly with all of this except point #4 which I strongly disagree with. The “giants” you mention were not indiscriminate dilettantes who found all ideas equally interesting. There is no democracy of ideas: some ideas are better, deeper, more interesting, or simply more relevant to the things that matter to you. Smart people who actually accomplish something develop very strong prejudices about what is interesting and what is boring. We all have limited time and limited intelligence and we need to apply them wisely. That’s just basic economics.
stanly says on August 5th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
5. Soon or later, your curiosity will find the answer of events, that happened in your past, and as every one knows, our future is build over our past, with the help of our present.
stanly says on August 5th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
DO take the things for granted, but don’t hesitate to change your mind, if you see a good reason for doing it.
legacy daily says on November 9th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
You assume curiosity can be developed. However, the solutions you suggest unfortunately require curiosity. This is a difficult one. Thank you for trying to write about it.
Powers says on December 25th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
Until you remove curiousity you will never understand that it is amongst the most important emotions in life and without it life can become quite difficult.
Powers says on December 25th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
If you are not curious learning will become an obstacle and in that way it is impossible to reach your dream. Curiousity will allow you to finish a book and thats exactly what life is !
Mr.Yakitory says on February 20th, 2009 at 8:19 pm
eww gross!!
Mr.Yakitory says on February 20th, 2009 at 8:19 pm
LA LA LAAAAME!!!!
Jaden says on March 21st, 2009 at 8:56 am
Einstein ON EDUCATION
Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.
Albert Einstein
It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.
Albert Einstein
· To Einstein, individual freedom was the ultimate morality and, in 1933, he made his famous declaration, “As long as I have any choice, I will stay only in a country where political liberty, toleration and equality of all citizens before the law are the rule.” He personally asked nothing more from life than the freedom to pursue his research into the mechanism of the universe. He felt the physical, social, political, intellectual and spiritual freedom of all individuals was essential and wrote, “In order to be content, men must also have the possibility of developing their intellectual and artistic powers to whatever extent, according to their personal characteristics and abilities.” He said the most essential kind of “outward freedom” involved social conditions “of such a kind that the expression of opinions and assertions about general and particular matters of knowledge will not involve dangers or serious disadvantages for him who expresses them.” He felt this freedom of communication is indispensable for the development and extension of scientific knowledge. He defined “inward freedom” as the development of science and the creative activities of the spirit, “an infrequent gift of nature and a worthy objective for the individual.”
Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. ….
· Einstein went on to say that schools and the community can and should do much to further this achievement of inward freedom by encouraging independent thought or “at lease not interfering with it.” He said that all too often schools interfere with the development of inward freedom through authoritarian influences and through imposing on young people “excessive spiritual burdens”. He wrote, “The worst thing seems to be for a school principally to work with methods of fear, force and artificial authority. Such treatment destroys the sound sentiments, sincerity and self-confidence of the pupil, producing the submissive subject . . . The only rational way of educating is to be an example – of what to avoid, if one can’t be the other sort.”
You can never solve a problem on the level on which it was created.
Albert Einstein
…………
· Einstein wrote in ON EDUCATION that schools should develop in youngsters “those qualities and capabilities which are of value for the welfare of the commonwealth. But that does not mean individuality should be destroyed and the individual become a mere tool of the community, like a bee or an ant. A community of standardized individuals without personal originality and personal aims would be a poor community without possibilities for development. Instead, the aim must be the training of independently acting and thinking individuals who see in the service of the community their highest life problem.” He also felt it important that people not take themselves or others too seriously and valued humor “in its due place”.
Reading, after a certain age, diverts the mind too much from its creative pursuits. Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking.
Albert Einstein
….
· He felt that a school’s main goal should always be to produce individuals who are “harmonious personalities”, not specialists. “If a person masters the fundamentals of his subject and has learned to think and work independently, he will surely find his way and will be better able to adapt himself to progress and changes than the person whose training principally consists in the acquiring of detailed knowledge.” At the 1990 OATAG Conference, Dr. Smutny stated that she felt education has focused too much on technical brilliance and achievement and “separated our heads from our hearts.”
No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.
Albert Einstein
….
· Dr. Smutny also stated, “A sense of conscious worth satisfies the hungry heart like nothing else can.” Along the same line, Einstein wrote, “It is not the fruits of scientific research that elevate a man and enrich his nature, but the urge to understand, the intellectual work, creative or receptive . . . I believe one does people the best service by giving them some elevating work to do.” ….
· Albert Einstein was not only an extraordinary scientist and mathematician and an extraordinary philosopher, moralist, and teacher, he was an extraordinary human being! We can learn from him not only quantum physics, but how to educate our children, especially our gifted children. We need to change our school systems to help encourage the development of the “inward freedom” of independent thought. We need to allow our children the freedom and opportunity to develop “harmonious personalities” as well as “the gifts which may be latent” in them. We need to teach our children to not only tolerate differences between individuals and between groups, but to welcome their enrichment of our existence. We need to teach them that science, mathematics, technology, philosophy, ethics, spirituality, music and the arts are all merely “different branches of the same tree”, all with the same purpose of ennobling the lives of individuals and enabling society to achieve its “richest flowering.”
Imagination is more important than knowledge.
Albert Einstein
It seems Albert Einstein had unschooling and Sudbury schools in mind, by what he just described above!
http://www.unschoolingamerica.com/
http://www.sudval.org/
Shitnik says on May 22nd, 2009 at 3:48 pm
I FUCK COWS!HOWS THAT FOR CURIOSITY!!??
Adalia John says on September 22nd, 2009 at 10:21 pm
Curiosity massages your mind and exposes you to new and endless possibilities. Curiosity is mind food.