There just isn’t any good substitute for genuine curiosity. A burning itch to know is higher than a solemn vow to pursue truth. But you can’t produce curiosity just by willing it, any more than you can will your foot to feel warm when it feels cold. Sometimes, all we have is our mere solemn vows.
So what can you do with duty? For a start, we can try to take an interest in our dutiful investigations—keep a close eye out for sparks of genuine intrigue, or even genuine ignorance and a desire to resolve it. This goes right along with keeping a special eye out for possibilities that are painful, that you are flinching away from—it’s not all negative thinking.
This post focuses on internal cultivation of curiosity, (which it does fantastically and why this post has such a strong reputation for being so widely loved). But as I read it, my thoughts move more naturally toward policy or project level changes. Some potential examples.
During the course of my work, if I’m not spending 5% of my efforts “just finding things out because I want to know the answer” then I should take this as a red flag that I need to change something in order to allow my natural curiosity to be present and helping.
Every day, ask yourself “what’s something about the world I really just want to know by the end of the day” and sit with it until my curiosity overcomes me and picks something. I might be busy and so I don’t commit to putting in the work to find out, but I should at least know what it is I’m curious about.
During the course of my personal life, also keep a track of how regularly I’m pursuing knowledge for its own sake. Is it too low? Then it’s time to find a way to get it higher.
I don’t know how well I’m doing on this at the minute. I’d like to reflect on it more.
This post focuses on internal cultivation of curiosity, (which it does fantastically and why this post has such a strong reputation for being so widely loved). But as I read it, my thoughts move more naturally toward policy or project level changes. Some potential examples.
During the course of my work, if I’m not spending 5% of my efforts “just finding things out because I want to know the answer” then I should take this as a red flag that I need to change something in order to allow my natural curiosity to be present and helping.
Every day, ask yourself “what’s something about the world I really just want to know by the end of the day” and sit with it until my curiosity overcomes me and picks something. I might be busy and so I don’t commit to putting in the work to find out, but I should at least know what it is I’m curious about.
During the course of my personal life, also keep a track of how regularly I’m pursuing knowledge for its own sake. Is it too low? Then it’s time to find a way to get it higher.
I don’t know how well I’m doing on this at the minute. I’d like to reflect on it more.