The subject of curiosity came up frequently in class as a necessity for innovation. Jenny decided that she needed to spend one class period exploring what curiosity was and how it was developed in the Malcomb children.
“I want to begin class today by asking you some questions. There are no right or wrong answers. I want you to be painfully truthful. Use this scale: 5 = generally true, 3 = sometimes true, 1 = rarely true.”
Question 1: Do you seek out new information regularly just for fun and then share this information with others?
Question 2: Do you seek out new information when you are anxious about not knowing something you feel you should/must know?
Question 3: Do you try to understand how other people are thinking by observing them or asking them questions?
Question 4: Are you willing to take risks to gain new experiences?
Question 5: Are you comfortable with moving out of your comfort zone in order to gain new insights or knowledge?
“Now look at your scores for each question. Those of you who scored high on every question are joyously curious about learning, exploration, and taking chances for gaining new experiences.”
“Those of you who scored high on question 2 and medium on the other questions are purposefully curious. You are curious when there is a need.”
“Those of you who scored high on question 3 and medium on the other questions are socially curious. Your curiosity is driven by wanting to be able to relate to others.”
“Those of you who scored low on most, if not all, questions are comfortably non-curious. You are satisfied with what you know and where you are in life.”
“Now reflect on what Hiram and Mable were doing to develop their children’s curiosity. There was the weekly challenge, the question hour, the observation practices and the curiosity competitions. Of course they didn’t have the insights about curiosity in their day that we have now. Compare the development of curiosity in the Malcomb family to what each of you have experienced up to this point in your life.”
“I’d like your ideas on how we can develop a society where curiosity is a valued trait and one that will overcome the treats of artificial intelligence. Curiosity is hard to replace with an algorithm.”
* * *
“I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.”– Albert Einstein