Is curiosity good or bad?
"Curiosity kills the cat."
"It's not your business."
Curiosity gets a bad rap these days. "My curiosity gets the best of me," someone might say. And the admonition to mind our own business reminds us that there are times when we need to curb our curiosity.
What about the saying "curiosity killed the cat"? Apparently, that saying isn't based on a true-life story of a cat getting in trouble for being too nosy. AccordinglyPhrases.org.uk, the original phrase was "Caution killed the cat". This expression dates back to 1598 and also appeared in one of Shakespeare's plays. Interestingly, the word "caring" used here does not refer to concern for others, but to pain or fear. And here we find the paradox.
Diligence vs. Curiosity
A 1965 study found a negative relationship between curiosity and fear.Penney, RK (1965). _Reactive curiosity and manifest fear in children.child development, 36(3), 697._doi:10.2307/1126915Apparently, worry/fear and curiosity are polar opposites. Not only does this reverse the original meaning of the cat phrase, but it also gives us a clue about the relationship between curiosity and well-being.
Disadvantages of Curiosity
A recent study found, not surprisingly, that unsatisfied curiosity can be disappointing. They told two groups of people what they hoped to learn. One group would get the answer quickly and the other would have to wait.Noordewier, M.K., & van Dijk, E. (2015). Curiosity and time: from not knowing to almost knowing.cognition and emotion, 31(3), 411–421. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2015.1122577The study confirmed that people who have to wait longer for their curiosity to be satisfied initially feel worse, but the closer they get to the answers, the more positive they feel about the situation. So curiosity can keep us in suspense. It seems that people with strong curiosity are better able to deal with the negative feelings that arise from not knowing.
Unbridled curiosity has its drawbacks. Being too nosy can ruin relationships. It cannotSit downour curiosity can waste a lot of time. In fact, the media recognize the power of curiosity and are leveraging it to stop us from changing channels or scrolling through posts on social media. The term "rabbit hole" is enough to remind us that sometimes our curiosity takes us much further than we intended.
Benefits of Curiosity
I'll get straight to my favorite reason: curiosity is essential for a bright outlook on life. A really bright prospect like I havepointedbefore, it is fixedbased on reality. Curiosity helps us to develop a closer relationship with reality, as it encourages us to understand people and the world around us. Making an effort to use curiosity in a positive way can increase life satisfaction and drive a person to do more.well-balanced. Constructive outlets for curiosity include learning about other cultures, learning a new language, learning a musical instrument, or just about any other hobby that requires constant attention.
The US Department of Labor has designated "lifelong learning" as one of its "personal effectiveness skills" essential for all life roles. Lifelong learning certainly requires curiosity. In today's economy, this quality is becoming more and more important.
Self-esteem experts cite curiosity as one of the most important ways to identify with a personhealthy self-esteem.
Judson Brewer, a behavior change researcher, helped people overcome fear by harnessing the power of curiosity. By learning to express curiosity about the feelings and sensations associated with fear, his patients were able to do so.overcome your fears.
Along with IQ andemotional intelligence, curiosity wasassociated with greater successacademic and otherwise.Reactive curiosity has been defined as (1) a tendency to approach and explore relatively novel stimulus situations, (2) a tendency to approach and explore inappropriate and complex stimuli, and (3) a tendency to respond to frequently experienced stimuli - Harty , H & Beall, D. (1984). _For the development of a measure of children's scientific curiosity.Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 21(4), 425–436._doi:10.1002/tea.3660210410
How to be more curious
As with anything, we must be convinced that an experience will be positive before we can motivate ourselves. So take the time to think about how you will reap the benefits:
- A brighter perspective
- More satisfaction in life
- A better understanding of the world
- Become more versatile, more rounded
- Learn skills that enrich your life
- Increase in your self-esteem
- fight the fear
- be successful in life
Now,to viewYou enjoy these benefits. Then write down where your future self can see andTo be convincedenjoy curiosity.
B. F. Skinner, an American psychologist, once said, "When you come across something interesting, drop everything else and study it." Well, maybe not "everything else", but if you give up passive, mindless activities that don't make a positive contribution to your life, you won't regret it. Curiosity gains momentum when you see the value of what you learn.
Curiosity about others can be beneficial, especially when expressed correctly. Juicy gossip can be interesting, but when you start to see each person as a treasure trove of stories and experiences, gossip will be less appealing. When you meet someone new, or even chat with someone you've known forever, ask yourself a few questions about yourself, like:
- If you could change one thing in the world what would it be?
- what really bothers you
- What would your ideal day look like?
- Have you ever met anyone famous?
Non-threatening questions like these can teach us amazing things about other people. We may discover similarities we could never have imagined.
Curiosity also means being willing to admit that we don't have all the answers. Having the humility to ask questions can be of great benefit.
Be fascinated by mysteries
As the 2015 study mentioned above shows, we often get irritated when we have to wait to hear something we've been promised. But this feeling can be overcome. Interestingly, sometimes experiences are better when we have to wait for them. Daniel Gilberto I havequoted earlier, conducted a study involving showing a movie to people. Some people could see the entire movie, but others couldn't see the ending. Which group do you think would enjoy the film the most?
But what we found was that people who didn't see the end of the movie liked it more, thought about it more, still engaged with it, and still enjoyed it hours or days later. They didn't see what happened to the last one - the main character at the end, and they were left wondering. Gosh, I wonder if he went to college or became a football player. What an interesting thing to think about and enjoy.Interview, NPR-ShowHidden BrainConsequenceYou vs Future You; Or why we are bad at predicting our own happiness
I can confirm this. Years ago I went to a drive-in theater with my kids to see the movie Sky High. At the film's climax, the school falls from the sky. Just as it was about to hit the ground, something went wrong with the projector and we didn't get to see the rest of it that night. (We got a coupon for another movie, so it wasn't really a loss.) In the end, I didn't see the end of the movie until it came out on DVD. He guesses? I enjoyed the movie more before I was able to see the ending, just as Daniel Gilbert would have predicted.
Curiosity knows no bounds
While there are some things you're better off not knowing about, like falling off a building or eating washing powder, in general we can all increase our curiosity. Whether it's curiosity about our physical world, our emotions, our relationships orour future, there are secrets just beneath the surface waiting to enrich our lives.