How to develop curiosity in adulthood and why you need to do it
Miscellaneous / / May 30, 2023
Sometimes for self-development it is useful to get bored and go for a walk.
What you need to know about curiosity and what it is
People are curious because it is physiologically pleasurable to receive new information. When a person is interested in looking for answers to questions, he stands out dopamine. 'Cause the brain seeks to behaviors that release hormones and help you experience pleasure. This mechanism also has a downside.
For the brain any new information valuable by itself, regardless of its quality.
For example, when we scroll the social media feed, we also we get dopamine. But if you sit there hours, Can deal with anxiety and depression. Therefore, to satisfy curiosity, it is better to use different ways: read books, watch interesting films, travel.
There are two types of curiosity:
- perceptualexpressed in that we like to choose new things over what we already know. By the way, this feeling is manifested not only in humans, but also in animals. For example, the desire to explore the environment helps crows to invent simple tools and use them to get food from narrow cracks and holes.
- epistemic curiosity is the thirst for knowledge encourages explore new ideas and fill gaps in information. It belongs only to man. By opinion anthropology professor Agustín Fuentes, throughout history, this form of curiosity has helped people to populate remote corners of the planet and master new technologies - from hand axes to smartphones.
To understand how one species differs from another, imagine an exaggerated situation: a person wants to lose weight. Perceptual curiosity will cause him to repeatedly click on catchy ads that promise quick success "without diets and exhausting workouts." Epistemic - will help you figure out how it works calorie deficit, Why stress affects weight and what things affect metabolism.
How interest in the world helps in life
inquisitive mind gives several advantages:
- Promotes career growth. curious people receive enjoyment of learning and reach academic success. They are more involved to work than their inquisitive colleagues. Interest in tasks simplifies their solution and reduces the feeling of fatigue.
- Helps in communication. Scientists discoveredthat a person who shows genuine interest in the conversation becomes more attractive interlocutor. Communication with people outside the usual circle helps to understand that everyone has their own life experience, which forms a difference in views.
- Makes you happier. Curious people are more likely experiencing positive emotions, less anxiety and more satisfaction with life.
How to develop curiosity
1. Allow yourself to be bored
If you don't seem to be interested in anything, try putting things aside. get out go for a walk, take a nap or daydream. A brain focused on intense work consumes a lot of energy. When all tasks are solved, it goes into passive mode: it fixes memoriesanalyzes the experience gained and considers how to apply it in the future. During this period, a person may come up with creative ideas. For example, according to the results of one survey, in 72% of respondents, non-standard solutions were born in the soul.
Out of My Skull: The Psychology of Boredom by James Dankert and John Eastwood consider, What boredom useful for another reason. It helps a person understand what is really important to him and find activities that satisfy intellectual curiosity.
2. Check out bookstores and libraries
On the Internet, you can easily find the answer to any question. But there is less chance of accidentally stumbling upon interesting data that does not relate to specific topics. Author of Curiosity: The Desire to Know and Why Your Future Depends on It by Ian Leslie recommends sometimes go to the bookstore or library. This will allow you to discover information that is not dictated by the algorithms based on your search queries.
A lack of intuition makes innovation difficult because innovation is based on unexpected collisions of knowledge and ideas.
From Curiosity: The Desire to Know and Why Your Future Depends on It
3. Learn new things
Ian Leslie also notesthat creativity does not occur in a vacuum. Successful innovators and artists accumulate knowledge that they can then use. They mix ideas and themes, draw analogies, and look for unusual patterns until they reach creative breakthrough. Try not to limit knowledge to only what can be useful in business. Go to exhibitions and lectures, sign up for workshops, or discover new sports to fuel your curiosity.
It is difficult for people to predict what information will be useful. For example, the author of the British show QI John Lloyd invented him when faced with a series of creative failures. He took time off from work, took long walks and read books - from the history of ancient Athens to the biographies of the French Impressionists. The producer didn't have a plan, he just took everything that was interesting. The reading gave Lloyd the idea for the program, which ended up running seven times. nominated for the BAFTA award and received National Television Awards for Most Popular Entertainment TV Game.
4. Ask questions
The human brain is susceptible cognitive distortionswhich prevent him from soberly assessing the situation. Even if you are sure that some statement is true, do not stop asking questions. Why is everything set up the way it is? How should it work? How can you influence the situation? Is there another way to solve this problem? So you will notice errors and inconsistencies more often, get used to analyzing situations and critically looking at your own judgments. And also this helps understand how the world around works and why we accept certain solutions.
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