The Psychology of Curiosity

Curiosity refers to the act or desire of knowing more than one knows and learning new things deeply to enhance ones own knowledge. Curiosity of a person increases when he discovers something interesting or unusual and feels like knowing more about it. When someone shows curiosity it means they are interested in the given topic or thing are eager to acquire as much knowledge and information as they can in that given topic of interest. Curious persons are more inclined towards research. A person could even be curious for unrelated things or concepts that they might not even have connections with or are unfamiliar to them. Sometimes prying and nosy behaviour could also be mistaken because of curiosity.

Curiosity is such a basic part of our life and we often satisfy the need for gaining more knowledge by watching television, listening to podcasts, using social media, reading books, magazines and newspapers or even by communicating with others. More curious a person is, more knowledgeable he will be.

Why are we being curious?

Curiosity is a sign of good mental health. Often when we see around, we see people who are happy, enthusiastic, cheerful, seems to be more curious that the ones who are sad, depressed or stressed as they lose interest in everything and shifts their whole focus to the ongoing problems in life. In other words, curiosity protects a person from anxiety and depression. Curious individuals are often observed as risk-takers, indicating their readiness to engage in risky situations or circumstances to gain fresh perspectives and new knowledge. They are open to the new experiences and could mould their personality accordingly. People are curious because of being mindfully present in the moment without worrying about the past or future. A person observing another person from far away gets curious about that person’s life or while listening to a catchy song, people gets curious about understanding the lyrics of song.

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Curiosity Across Generations:

Curious people may also feel frustrated when they are deprived of knowledge or are unable to seek knowledge in whatever aspect they want or desire. William James, who is a philosopher and a psychologist called curiosity as ‘the impulse towards better cognition’ which could be interpreted as curiosity being a tool or an act that helps increasing knowledge and thinking capacity of an individual. It has been seen that children or toddlers shows more curiosity towards life and unusual things or phenomenon as they haven’t seen the world and doesn’t seem to be aware of many things, so they starts asking questions to satisfy their curiosity and to learn more about the functioning of nature and the world they live in.

They often ask questions from elder people like “why does the moon follows us in car?” or “why this particular leaf has such colour and such shape?” However, the curiosity is not limited to just the children or young people, but the adults are equally seems to be curious about specific things in life like clothes, business, people, news and current affairs.

Three types of curiosity

Cognitive scientists have identified three types of curiosity. First, diversive curiosity, a type of curiosity in which an individual is attracted to novel things, such as those present since childhood. The second type of curiosity is epistemic curiosity which makes a person curious about learning and understanding new things and facts of life. The third type of curiosity includes empathic curiosity, which makes a person interested in knowing about the thoughts and feelings of others. Everyone is born with Diversive curiosity and attains epistemic and empathic curiosity later in life with time.

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How to be curious in life

1.Be like a child again:

Look upon the world with child’s eyes and curious mind to explore the world as it is, full of joys and little adventures. Do all the activities and pursue all the hobbies that once felt joyous in childhood. Go for a walk, hiking, motorcycle riding, fishing, etc. Start looking the world through child’s perspective, how they would’ve asked so many questions out of curiosity.

2.Engage in new and unusual stuffs:

Following routines helps an individual become disciplined, but trying out new, exciting, and unusual things makes life interesting and full of curiosity. Doing something different or meeting new people once in a while provides opportunities to learn new things.

3.Acquire knowledge of random stuff:

Be the person who shows enthusiasm towards learning something new even if it’s unrelated to the field of work or aligns with ones values and beliefs. If something seems interesting, learn it and gain knowledge in that matter by reading about it or watching videos on internet.
Talking with someone about that topic also helps in gaining knowledge and sharing each others point of views regarding the subject thereby increasing ones curiosity. For example, someone is a doctor but really feels attracted towards astrology and zodiacs, there is no harm in getting knowledge in that particular topic of interest.

4.Don’t hesitate in asking questions:

The more curious a person is, more the number of questions the person asks. Also, it’s the curiosity behind falling an apple on his head that made him discover the whole new concept of gravity. It’s the ‘why’ and ‘how’ that leads a person forward in life. Many believe that asking questions and discovering answers to those questions can help uncover the secrets of the universe. Ask the question, be it small or large, as it’s the questions that helps in solving a doubt or curiosity towards something in mind.

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5.Look out for new things:

Take a new way to reach home or try out a new restaurant on the way, it helps fueling the curiosity and gives an opportunity to try out new things and learn something different than the day before. Even visiting new countries or places and talking to new people enhances ones knowledge so much that it made the person curious to travel more often and discover new unusual things and people.

How curiosity makes the person benefited? (Also, the disadvantageous)

It’s the curiosity that makes a person more knowledgeable and noble than others. A person’s psychological and mental well-being closely link to curiosity. It increases one’s grit and makes the person more happy and wealthy in life. Curiosity in a person makes their life meaningful as they repeatedly seek more knowledge and opportunities in life. It enhances memory and cognition.

One of the major benefits of being curious is that curiosity keeps away all the negativity and sadness of life away from an individual by keeping them preoccupied by learning. Curiosity helps practicing mindfulness. Also, curiosity may help in providing some Insights within an individual from being able to ask open ended questions and directing them towards oneself by reflecting upon them. Curiosity eliminates the feeling of being useless or avoidable.

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These are some benefits of curiosity. However, there are various disadvantages of curiosity too. Curiosity diverts a person’s mind from important things through distractions. One or the other person might have experienced that during exams, one’s mind is the most curious thing, it wants to gain knowledge in topics other than the syllabus in hand. They seek knowledge of unrelated topics not connected to their own syllabus or work, leading to divided attention towards the main task. Curiosity can also lead to anxiety when someone does not get answers at the very moment of curiosity. Sometimes curiosity may also makes a person seems to be prying or invading others privacy.