I remember being an eight year old kid marveling at the world around me. Heck, some part of me still is that kid. That's why I want to be an astrophysicist.
But something happened down the road. I met a bunch of people who put down my questions; dismissed them as being not important. Because apparently one can't see an umbra and a penumbra in one's own shadow at a restaurant, and one sure as heck can't ask about it in class.
Yeah, I hold a grudge from eight years ago, but for good reason.
If it weren't for that experience, I wouldn't hesitate today to ask questions in class. There was a time this hesitation would have crippled me academically. And I'm only just starting to recover what has been lost.
But it makes me wonder - what is going on? How many curiosities are killed this way? Will those even be recoverable?
Losing one's curiosity is an incredibly dangerous thing. The reason is simple and elegant, like a lot of equations in physics today. So let me do this mathematically.
We are given that humans are very clever - they have built empires, cities, and are leaving a mark of their own. Why? It is that one game changer, Curiosity.
So, we have
Humans + Curiosity = Desire to do things better. ...... - (1)
Subtracting "Curiosity" from both sides,
(Humans + Curiosity) - Curiosity = (Desire to do things better) - Curiosity
Humans = Desire to do things better - Curiosity
Now, "Desire to do things better" is made up of two interlinked ideas - Curiosity and Innovation. And one cannot exist without the other. Remove Curiosity, and Innovation crumbles. And without either of them, you have a paradox.
Humans = No desire to make things better...? Have you ever heard of such a thing?
As said in an earlier post, curiosity is our defining characteristic. One does not simply take it away. And children are naturally curious. Killing that desire to explore...in my opinion, that is a huge evil.
"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing." - Albert Einstein.
But something happened down the road. I met a bunch of people who put down my questions; dismissed them as being not important. Because apparently one can't see an umbra and a penumbra in one's own shadow at a restaurant, and one sure as heck can't ask about it in class.
Yeah, I hold a grudge from eight years ago, but for good reason.
If it weren't for that experience, I wouldn't hesitate today to ask questions in class. There was a time this hesitation would have crippled me academically. And I'm only just starting to recover what has been lost.
But it makes me wonder - what is going on? How many curiosities are killed this way? Will those even be recoverable?
Losing one's curiosity is an incredibly dangerous thing. The reason is simple and elegant, like a lot of equations in physics today. So let me do this mathematically.
We are given that humans are very clever - they have built empires, cities, and are leaving a mark of their own. Why? It is that one game changer, Curiosity.
So, we have
Humans + Curiosity = Desire to do things better. ...... - (1)
Subtracting "Curiosity" from both sides,
(Humans + Curiosity) - Curiosity = (Desire to do things better) - Curiosity
Humans = Desire to do things better - Curiosity
Now, "Desire to do things better" is made up of two interlinked ideas - Curiosity and Innovation. And one cannot exist without the other. Remove Curiosity, and Innovation crumbles. And without either of them, you have a paradox.
Humans = No desire to make things better...? Have you ever heard of such a thing?
As said in an earlier post, curiosity is our defining characteristic. One does not simply take it away. And children are naturally curious. Killing that desire to explore...in my opinion, that is a huge evil.
"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing." - Albert Einstein.
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