One of the things that is magic about curiosity is that you don’t need anyone’s permission to use it. You don’t need a team, and you don’t need any special tools that you don’t already have with you all the time.
Curiosity is a mind-set. Period.
Another powerful quality of curiosity is that it’s positively reinforcing. If you approach the world with questions, you get one of three experiences:
- You learn something.
- Or you find that something you thought you understood, is different than you thought.
- Or you confirm you were right.
One of those three things always happens. That is why you should love asking questions. Any of the three results are positive – whether you are ignorant, or confused, or right. Never be sorry you asked those questions.
We often get confused about something that has to do with curiosity – confused, or maybe even a little scared. It seems easier, or safer, to fall back on our easy assumption, especially if those assumptions reinforce what we already think.
We think that if we ask a sincere and thoughtful question of someone we disagree with, we might be dragged into an argument, or coerced into agreeing with their opposing viewpoint.
Neither is correct.
It’s often just the opposite. When you use curiosity with thoughtfulness and compassion, you don’t have to agree with that person. But you do end up understanding them better, and that understanding is a form of connection.
Curiosity can add zest to your life, and it can take you well beyond that – It can enrich your whole sense of security, confidence, and well-being. But it doesn’t do any of that alone, of course. While Labrador Retrievers are instinctively curious, no Labrador ever decoded the genome, or received a patent for a new invention. In truth, they tend to lose interest pretty quickly.
For it to be effective, curiosity must be harnessed to at least two other key traits:
The first is the ability to pay attention to the answers to your questions – you must actually absorb whatever it is you’re being curious about.
The second trait is the willingness to act.
Put these two traits into action and wonderful things begin to happen.
-Some Excerpts from A Curious Mind Expanded, by Brian Grazer
“The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.”
-Dorthy Parker
“The best in business have boundless curiosity and open minds.”
-Robin Sharma
“Curiosity will conquer fear even more than bravery will.”
-James Stephens
“Remember that things are not always as they appear to be. Curiosity creates possibilities and opportunities.”
-Roy T. Bennett
For other volumes on curiosity, please reference the Bestifor website under Bestifor University, Quotes & Anecdotes and go to: Curiosity, June 18, 2022, and Be Curious April 2, 2023 editions.
