Curiosity Is a Precious Asset

How Can You Enhance Its Value in Your Life?

We always hear about the value of curiosity. If you have it, it supposedly guides you to discoveries, enhances your memory, and boosts your performance. Research has confirmed the role of curiosity in forging a rich and interesting life.

In science and arts, curiosity is an important drive. Having supervised many Ph.D. and post-doc researchers, I can only endorse the fact that curiosity is not only a great quality for a researcher to have but one that distinguishes the research results.

Curiosity takes artists into new roads of experimentation, as they search for new forms of expression, new types of music, colors, and forms. In literature, it leads to explorations in the power of words and language.

If you imagine your life as a house, curiosity is the window. A house without windows will be a boring place to inhabit — it will be like a prison. Through the window, you see the possibilities and it pushes you to go out and discover the world. It all starts when you look out of the window.

“I think, at a child’s birth, if a mother could ask a fairy godmother to endow it with the most useful gift, that gift should be curiosity.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

Yet, curiosity is no guarantee of success. As you go out and start playing and exploring, you encounter problems. As you try to find solutions to these problems, you need other traits and strategies. If combined with other attributes, curiosity will empower you to investigate, test, build and deliver. Delivery brings satisfaction and is a great measure of success.

Curiosity or creativity — what shall we strive for?

The Cambridge Dictionary defines curiosity as “an eager desire to know or learn about something”. Thus it is an internal motivation that opens you up for receiving information.

“I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.” — Albert Einstein, from Letter to Carl Seelig, 1952.

Look at Einstein — curiosity took him far. If you are curious and inquisitive, you learn and discover more throughout your search for knowledge and meaning in life. If you are indifferent, you will miss opportunities to grow.

The same Cambridge Dictionary defines creativity as “the ability to produce or use original and unusual ideas”. I think the quote by Picasso illustrates well the subtle difference between curiosity and creativity. If you are curious, you ask “why?”; if you are creative, you ask “why not?”.

“Others have seen what is and asked why. I have seen what could be and asked why not.”― Pablo Picasso, from Metamorphoses of the Human

LinkedIn pinpoints creativity as the most important skill for companies these days. In preparation for the labor market, many professionals will potentially join boot camps and courses to develop their creativity.

So, shall we strive for curiosity or creativity? The point is that it is difficult to be creative if you are not curious. To be creative, you need to open your mind to new ideas and be eager to learn and test new roads. Curiosity will spark your interest to learn. Curiosity breeds creativity.

The power of curiosity

There is a lot to discover about curiosity. We still do not know whether curiosity is a personality trait that affects people’s behavior, or an emotional state of mind. If it is a trait, it is distinctive of your character, much like being rational, generous, or silent. If it is a state of mind, it depends on the context and may vary with age, moods, and habits. Either way, it seems to be a trait to maintain as a red thread throughout life.

From the very first days of infancy, we can count on curiosity to push us forward. If we stay curious throughout our lives, we will be always open to discovery, and that will enrich our lives. This openness for the new will help build relations, as much as it will pave the way for learning, becoming more creative, and building a successful career.

Curiosity is also something for everyday life — it brings flavor to every moment. Imagine you are in a country you never visited before, sitting in your hotel room after a working day. It was a full day and you will be living tomorrow, so you have no chance for sightseeing. You could order something to your room, just eat, watch the news and fall asleep. Sounds boring.

You look out of the window and feel curious about what is out there. Your curiosity is stronger than your fatigue — it gives you the energy to discover. You go to a typical restaurant, eat the local food and drink the local beer. People at a neighboring table ask you where you are from, and you engage in conversation. It is all too short, but you feel the atmosphere and are filled with impressions. The incident may spark your interest to come back, to read about a culture you just tasted but know so little about. At the very least, it was an enjoyable experience made possible because you wanted to discover.

On the other hand, curiosity may operate in destructive ways. It could well lead people towards less alluring roads. Curiosity can motivate experimentation with drugs and unwanted consequences. Recent research suggests that a better understanding of what sparks curiosity for alcohol could help shape better prevention efforts.

Can you learn to be curious?

Curiosity is so positively loaded, that if you don’t have it, you are advised to boost it somehow. Does it mean you can learn to be curious? Many believe this is the case. Typical suggestions to spark curiosity will be to read about different topics, ask many questions (Why?), and keep your mind open. Will that work for you?

I see many people falling asleep as soon as they get hold of a book or start reading the newspaper. What will motivate them to read about different topics all the way to the end? I suppose Medium is a good place to start, as Medium writers are keen to spark your curiosity with good titles. It is a start.

What about keeping your mind open for new ideas — how do you do that? How motivated are you to keep your mind open to new habits and ideas? You may react and say: wait a minute, what is wrong with feeling comfortable with the same routine, meeting the same friends, and eating the same type of food every day? I guess some element of surprise will not hurt if you push yourself to experiment a little bit.

Yet training curiosity may not be a quick fix because you may have to address the reasons why you lost the curiosity you were born with. Maybe your fears stop you — fear of failing, of ridicule, of losing power. Those reasons may lie deep inside you. The stress of everyday life can also be a curiosity killer. Stress does not give you a break from all the “must” in your life, or give you time to think anew.

Looking from another angle though, when strong, curiosity can help you overcome fear. Your curiosity may help you realize that you want another life, a different career, or a new challenge. And that makes you challenge the status quo and pushes you towards new adventures and discoveries.

How to spark curiosity and motivate learning?

Fortunately, you are not the only one trying to find out how you can spark curiosity. Teachers and educators are keen to make students more engaged. If they are curious, they will learn more and perform better. They will have fun on the way and, as a result, they will remember what they learn.

Therefore, there is growing multi-dimensional research on curiosity. One of the things to sort out is the difference between the role of curiosity and interest, or curiosity and intelligence. How do they overlap or interact in the learning process? How do they affect performance? How do culture, age, gender, and background influence curiosity and interest? This type of research is bound to have an impact on the development of the educational system in the coming years. Stay tuned.

An experiment carried out at Princeton University showed how the way you present a topic will influence the students’ attitude. If the students understand how the study of a topic can be beneficial for the environment, for example, they will appreciate the topic more. However, as it turned out, the most effective way to spark the students’ curiosity was to show how the topic could bring personal benefits.

Thus, showing the applicability and value of the knowledge in question can spark curiosity. And people seem to be more curious about things that bring value to them. I find this research finding of particular interest. I write on environmental issues here in Medium. However, there is no doubt that topics related to self-improvement attract much more interest than topics on the environment.

This is not a complaint or blame, only a quick assessment. I keep thinking about how I can make Medium readers more curious about the big stage of their lives — the environment. Perhaps I need to find better ways to convey the linkage between the environment and personal gains. Perhaps the environment is just one among many interests people may have, while what most people are particularly curious about is developing themselves.

Three add-ons to enhance curiosity and deliver results

Curiosity is great to have and worth developing, whether it is a trait or a state of mind. But do we overrate it? Curiosity can also split your mind if you become addicted to it. Social media sparks curiosity but will steal time and will not lead to results. Instead of providing new knowledge or learning, it can be the source of anxiety.

Wisely used, however, it can be an instrument towards a goal — for example, to develop a business. If combined with some key add-ons, curiosity can be an enormous motivator to learning, creating, and innovating. As a bonus, it will bring flavor and joy to our lives.

Here are three add-ons that will help you enhance and channel your curiosity, finally delivering results. If curiosity is the window in your house, here is the foundation.

Structure a plan — If you are curious, you may like to try different ideas, various jobs, or places to live. It is fine to try things randomly for a while. Eventually, if you want to achieve your goals, you need to deliver. A vision is good to have, but it is only one part of your plan — it sets the direction. Structure a plan for how you want to organize your efforts. No matter how loose or elaborated, the plan defines direction, boundaries, and actions. This will not constrain your curiosity, but rather create a process to channel your ideas and discoveries and make them part of your plan. The boundaries are for the plan, not for the ideas. Stay curious.

Keep the focus — Observe, browse ideas and possibilities, and learn. Again, you can search things randomly for a while. However, deep understanding takes time and effort. To find synergies, reveal patterns, make discoveries and deliver results, you need to stay focused. Chances are that the more you know about something, the more curious you become about it, not the other way. Even if you are into something because you want to reap personal benefits, you will have to focus on the craft, not on the benefits it will bring. The benefits help keep your motivation, I reckon. So, review the vision and the potential benefits now and then and come back. By working focused on the craft you can deliver — in your research, your painting, your book, your show. This will bring you closer to the vision.

Hard work — We often overrate inspiration and talent. It is a delusion. When it comes to delivering results, hard work beats both. If you show up to write every day, you will eventually deliver a story. It is when you are deep in your research that you find the connections and answers. Delivery depends on 10% inspiration and 90% transpiration. It is like that in sports, arts, research, and any other job. Everyone that values performance knows that. The interesting thing is that hard work is rarely a problem if you are curious and eager to discover and create. You don’t need curiosity to deliver results! You can work hard and deliver. The big difference is that, if you are not very interested and curious about what you do, it will be boring and repetitious — you will never be a master. See what Michelangelo had to say after a lot of hard work to master his craft.

“If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful at all.” — Michelangelo

Take-aways

• Curiosity is a booster to creativity. Use it as a window to learning and discovery.
• Channel your curiosity and enhance its benefits. Structure, focus, and hard work are the foundations for delivery. Curiosity adds value and improves performance.
• Allow yourself to be surprised. Let curiosity be a red thread in a joyful journey through life.