Curiosity And The Cat

Curiosity And The Cat

Feb 28, 2024

They say, "curiosity killed the cat". I doubt it. Even if it did, you and I are not cats, and I have a working theory that curiosity is much more important than it may appear.

Curiosity is what makes us want to learn something new, to discover or understand something new or different, or even the desire to meet and understand other people. It's the driving force in all human development. Pick any area of life you want and it's curiosity that leads to new discoveries, understanding, even inventions. Being curious get a person off couch-potato status and turns them into explorers, discovering things new, and bringing new understanding to the whole world.

You are not a cat! Not even the proverbial cat. Curiosity won't kill you. It is more likely to enrich your life, turn you into a much more interesting and productive person, and help you become a person with more to offer to your fellow humans.

Most children are innately curious. It's one reason they get into a lot of trouble. They want to know what that funny rectangular object is at the base of the wall, the one with the odd shaped holes. Why not stick something in the hole and see if they can figure out what's in there, if anything. That can be a shocking experience!

Babies are forever grabbing objects and sticking them into their mouths. Is this food? Wonder what this tastes like? Oops! It's now stuck in the throat, and they can't breathe.

Childhood is a not-long-enough curiosity experiment. This usually lasts through the teen years, maybe even into early adulthood. At some point curiosity gives way to the desire for safety, consistency, and known reward. Curiosity might be pulled out on occasion, but too many grown-ups act as if they've lost curiosity altogether.

When that happens, it can feel like something is missing from life itself. A person gets stuck in place. Life is boring. There is no longer the desire to learn new things, understand or experience what's never been known or experienced before. The loss of curiosity saddens life.

Jump start curiosity by employing a set of words learned by almost everyone. Who, what, when, where, how many, and what kind of? Turn those words into questions about everything you see or hear. Who said that? Who did that? Who can I ask if I want to know something? Who created that? Who destroyed that? Who is a resource? Who? Who? Who? Start there and suddenly you dive into a rabbit hole leading to new discoveries.

What? What is that? What does it do? What would help me accomplish something I need to do? Where could I find it? Where can I go? Where should I look? When will this or that happen? When is it a good time, or bad time? When can I expect this to happen? How many does it take? How many have tried this before? How many succeeded or failed? How or why did it work for them? What kind of tool do I need? What kind of person should I be? What kind of friend do I need, or want to be?

Curiosity is fueled by questions. It's the desire to know about something that already exists, or the desire to know how to create something new. It's both a high interest in what's already here, and a sense of wonder about things no one has ever seen. Curiosity is what creates the urge to wake up tomorrow because there is more to explore.

Curiosity is driven by opening your eyes to what is around you. It's opening your ears to hear the sounds swirling through the air. It's opening your mind, drinking deeply of life itself. If you really want to live, become curious again.

Warning. Resuscitating your curiosity may not be easy for the same reason it's not easy for a couch-potato to begin exercising. Weak, flabby muscles will resist that effort. It physically hurts to do the movements. Curiosity might not make your muscles hurt (although it can when it insists you move physically), but it can take real effort to get your brain moving again. The rewards are worth it, however.

If I've done nothing more than cause you to become curious about curiosity, I'll claim success. I'll soon be mid-way through my 70s and I'm happy to say that I'm as much, maybe more, curious today than ever before. I wake up every morning wanting to learn something new, experience something new, know someone I've not known before, or take the total of things already old in my life and discover some new facet, some detail I've not seen before. I'm not a cat! That old cat sits in the corner afraid that curiosity is going to kill it. I'm out of the corner, poking into all sorts of things because I want to live while I'm alive.

Start asking questions about everything. Get curious. You'll find a richness about life that will surprise you.

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