How to Cultivate Your Curiosity
Science tells us how to encourage curiosity in children—I wanted a system for staying curious as an adult
I never gave curiosity much thought or considered myself a particularly curious person. It’s not that I lacked curiosity — I just never thought of it as a skill you could nurture with time and practice.
That changed when I landed an internship in grad school in a research lab that studies curiosity. Turns out, curiosity is malleable. Teachers can foster children’s curiosity through pedagogical techniques, such as how they respond to students’ questions. They can create learning experiences that spark curiosity.
But teachers can also inadvertently harm children’s curiosity if they ignore questions or exhibit disapproval when a child uses an outside-the-box idea to complete a task. An emphasis on standardized tests may suppress students’ curiosity as well. Why come up with creative, divergent strategies to tackle a question when you are spoon-fed a formula?
Educational psychologists were thinking about these issues over 100 years ago, noting eerily similar criticisms of modern standardized tests:
"Finally, I saw how inconsistent it was to expect this greater amount of creative, independent work from the student when the teachers were still unemancipated; when the teachers were still shackled by too many rules and prescriptions and too much of a desire for uniformity of method and subject matter."
— John Dewey, 1910
I became relentlessly curious about curiosity through my internship and through reading books like How We Think by John Dewey that dove deep into this topic. I learned how psychologists believe we can help children be more curious, but I started wondering if there are evidence-based ways for adults to strengthen our curiosity muscles.
What Promotes Curiosity in Adults?
Is it more difficult to be curious after childhood? And what suppresses curiosity in adulthood? Do we trade the pressures of standardized tests for monotonous jobs that discourage divergent thinking? On a more basic level, what place does curiosity have in adulthood? It appears to begin to decline after age 5. Is it natural to allow it to wither as we age?
This train of thought took a backseat as I continued my program. Grad school required 110% of my mental energy and focus. I wrote my final paper on curiosity and project-based learning, graduated two weeks later, and tucked it away in a folder titled “School Stuff” on my laptop where I keep a disorganized collection of old papers.
With a vast amount of time to kill after I graduated and the pandemic hit, I reread some of my favorite childhood books. Perhaps I was primed to be thinking about curiosity since I had just written a thesis on it, but a line of dialogue from one of my favorite young adult books stood out to me:
“Curiosity killed the cat,” Fesgao remarked, his dark eyes unreadable.
Aly rolled her eyes. Why did everyone say that to her? “People always forget the rest of the saying,” she complained. “‘And satisfaction brought it back.”
— Tamora Pierce, 2003
I started thinking about curiosity again. And then I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Children’s books, teachers, and research in psychology are all focused on fostering curiosity in childhood. I was consumed again by wondering how adults can cultivate curiosity. Is there research on this?
Turns out, there’s no research on this! At least not any I could find after spending days scouring the bottomless pit of Google Scholar.
There’s research on the benefits of curiosity for adults (such as enhancing learning, the quality of interpersonal relationships, and memory) but nothing about how adults can actually cultivate this important trait. In the lab I interned in, we studied curiosity in children. Now, I wanted to know about adults. There must be specific ways for adults to improve their curiosity.
We are, after all, endowed with a tool that younger children haven’t developed yet— metacognition. We can monitor our learning and train ourselves to be acutely self-aware. We can figure out the best strategies to promote our learning, clearly define our personal goals, assess whether our goals are being met, and revise our methods if needed. I thought back to the children’s book I recently reread, “‘…satisfaction brought it back.”
What Satisfaction Would I Find if I Became More Curious?
More basically, is curiosity something we can learn to cultivate? Are some people more naturally inclined to be curious? Did I “miss out” on some critical stage where I could’ve developed curiosity as a child? If I committed to making curiosity a habit, could I become more curious?
These questions spiraled through my mind. With ample free time in self-isolation and no access to an actual research lab to study curiosity in adults, I turned to self-experimentation. Based on my prior knowledge of curiosity from grad school, I devised a step-by-step plan to grow my curiosity. I jotted down self-reflective notes on my progress at the end of each week.
Spoiler alert: The results have been life-changing. 10/10 would recommend trying this yourself.
What is Curiosity?
Before jumping into my personal experiment, I should tell you how I defined curiosity for the purposes of my case study.
How would you define curiosity? Think about it for a minute.
It’s not an easy concept to pin down. Even psychologists have varying definitions and ways of measuring curiosity. It’s what makes psychology so fascinating — there’s something enticing about witnessing an attempt to measure seemingly elusive human traits like curiosity. The definition I went with was, “the desire to resolve uncertainty or fill a gap in one’s knowledge.” Under this umbrella definition, there are several conditions required:
- You must become aware of a gap in your knowledge
- You must desire to resolve your uncertainty by filling the gap in your knowledge
- Lastly, you must seek out information!
How do you create these conditions in your day to day life? I crafted a list of ways to make myself aware of gaps in my knowledge, triggered an urge to fill that gap, and then engaged in information seeking.
Steps to Cultivating Curiosity
1. I embraced my uncertainty
Did you know that bats aren’t blind? And there are no different sections for each taste on your tongue? Or that there are no alphas in a wolf pack? And that ostriches don’t actually stick their heads in the sand?
Maybe you’re more informed than I am and knew some of that already, but for me, these were stunning revelations that led me to explore further. I looked up a list of commonly held misconceptions, and it had the additional benefit of making me question everything. What other misconceptions do I hold?
Get comfortable with your uncertainty; don’t shy away from it. Be grateful that you hold misconceptions. It’s an opportunity to learn something new. Use that Wikipedia list to get started.
2. I tuned in to my “information gaps” and sought to fill them
I did this by questioning everything, letting myself go down the rabbit holes of online articles about a topic, and following what fascinated me.
Here’s an example: I read an article on Medium about learning styles. It didn’t cite any sources, and I vaguely remembered hearing somewhere that learning styles are a myth. Normally, I would’ve exited out of the article and continued on with my daily life, not giving it a second thought. But this time, I looked it up. I spent a while perusing through a multitude of research studies on the topic, discovering that “learning styles” don’t actually exist and that belief in them can be harmful.
Fascinating stuff. Curious about it? Google it and allow yourself to follow the threads.
3. I slowed down
I took scheduled, ten-minute mental breaks by setting a reminder on my phone to go off twice per day. I used this time to be mindful of my surroundings, journal for a couple of minutes, and focus on my breathing.
This technique restored my mental energy and sparked random bursts of thought that I could delve further into. I started noticing things I see every day but had never given any real thought to — like, why does my cat chase beams of sunlight around on the floor? I looked it up and now I could tell you why!
4. I read one book per week
I finally committed to reading regularly. I used to read religiously, but the habit tapered off after I started college. Returning to this old habit reminded me what it felt like to be insatiably curious as a child, devouring book after book and discovering new worlds, characters, and ideas.
Set aside regular time—schedule it if necessary—to do some reading about topics you become curious about, or to expand your horizons. You don’t have to read nonfiction. Novels, poetry, and other forms can also inspire your sense of curiosity.
5. I focused on other people
I made an effort to listen more than I spoke. I started treating my friends, coworkers, and husband like teachers I can learn from if I ask the right questions and listen carefully.
The wealth of experience and knowledge that people have is astounding if you are able to listen carefully. Even people you’ve known for years have layers you haven’t seen. Try asking people more questions in every conversation you have. Everyone has stories and pieces of wisdom to offer.
6. I organized my “creative collection”
I sifted through my “School Stuff” folder, extracting papers from years ago that held fascinating but never fully formed ideas. I browsed through my old journals from years ago, highlighting errant pieces of poetry, observations, and fragments of thoughts that I once felt worthy of writing down.
Reconnect with things you used to be curious about but never fully pursued, and you’ll be pleasantly surprised at what you find.
7. I took an online course on a topic that sounded intriguing
You can find hundreds of fascinating self-paced courses at HarvardX. They offer free courses on any subject you can think of — everything from computer science, language, history, and philosophy. Browsing through the courses made me think, Wow, there’s so much I don’t know!
The course I took was about climate change, which is something I’ve always wanted to learn about but never seriously pursued. We all have random interests that we never act on. Pick one.
Choose something that excites you and pursue it. It’s worth carving out a few hours each week for this. You’ll love where it leads you.
Here’s What I Learned
First of all, you should know that it’s not about making lists of items to check off each week. Genuine curiosity is a habit, woven into every aspect of your life. It becomes second-nature once you start to cultivate it. It seeps into every realm of your life in unexpected ways from your work, friendships, relationships, hobbies, and routines.
It may start as a step-by-step list, but after some time, it transforms into a natural part of your life. Curiosity becomes instinct.
You start spending more time listening to people instead of talking, being mindful of your surroundings, understanding other people more deeply, reading the books piled up on your nightstand, and reconnecting with parts of yourself you may have been neglecting.
Your memory also improves. I’m earning certifications for my job through online coursework, and since committing to my curiosity-promoting practices, I’ve found I retain information better. Even for things that are unrelated to my personal interests.
This makes sense because curiosity is not only a mental state but is also an emotion that serves as a powerful impetus, urging us to fill gaps in our knowledge.
In my self-experimentation, here’s what I believe happened: Curiosity transformed from a temporary state that arose when I wanted answers to a question into a powerful emotion that permeated every aspect of my life.
“Curiosity may put the brain in a state that allows it to learn and retain any kind of information, like a vortex that sucks in what you are motivated to learn, and also everything around it.”
— Dr. Matthias Gruber, Researcher at UC Davis
It’s a difficult feeling to put into words and I couldn’t have phrased it better myself. Here’s my attempt to describe it:
Every day, there are fragments of knowledge waiting to be collected and pieced together if you’re able to see them. Curiosity is the light in a kaleidoscope of knowledge, connecting the fragments into a work of art. It’s a powerful emotion that holds pieces of information together and forms new connections. Learning, after all, is defined by making new connections. Making curiosity a habit enables you to do that every single day.
Personal Growth and Lifelong Learning
Curiosity is also key to personal growth. If you’re more curious, you form a deeper connection when you meet someone. I saw this reflected in my interactions with new coworkers and business connections on my journey to cultivate curiosity.
Curious people succeed. It’s a common denominator connecting every successful author, entrepreneur, and artist. Curious people are lifelong learners. If you turn curiosity into a habit, you’ll reap emotional rewards, have more fulfilling relationships, feel inspired to create, and learn things you never would have stumbled on before.
“Learning is by nature, curiosity.”
— Plato
To Sum Up
Before my self-experiment, curiosity seemed like a temporary state — a fleeting moment of an impulse to explore a question that I may or may not have acted on. Now, after actively and meticulously cultivating it, it feels like an emotion. It’s with me all day, regardless of what I’m doing. I feel happier and more excited to start my day. When I wake up, I wonder, what am I going to learn today?
You can apply the methods I suggested to your own life, and alter them as needed to fit your routine. Maybe brainstorm some more curiosity-promoting ideas! Whatever you do, be mindful of your curiosity and think about how you can nurture it into a lifelong habit.
Lastly, change your mindset about the actual nature of curiosity. Don’t think of curiosity as a temporary state that swoops in and sparks inspiration. Instead, treat it like a skill you can improve with effort and goal-setting. Think of it as a powerful motivator and an emotion that you carry with you regularly. The rewards are worth it, I promise.