But the mental algorithms whose result outputs as lust don’t know that, so they end up making you weak-kneed for some big-breasted wide-hipped woman with a terrible personality.
You know, some of us are “face men”—men who are turned on (or off) by faces. I literally can’t tell if a woman’s attractive to me or not unless I can see her face, which makes many popular jokes (e.g. “putting a bag over her head”) and supposedly “hot” women incomprehensible to me. Women with mean or vapid faces turn me off no matter what their bodies look like.
(I actually used to be really confused by the notions of “leg man”, “breast man”, etc. before I found out this other category existed; I couldn’t figure out what category I was in. Wish I could remember where I heard about it, though.)
The categories can get stranger than that, even. Personally, I dig long hair. Some people like short people. Some people like tan skin. Some people like personalities and are genuinely attracted to successful people. (Like Rockstars.)
Weird, eh?
This applies to curiosity as well. I am curious about the answers to puzzles. I am curious about things that other people may have wrong. I am curious about why I do certain things. Not everyone has this same list of curiosity (which is pretty similar to Yvain’s list). Some people are curious about trivia. Some are curious about what their significant other is doing. Some people are curious about how well their fantasy league is doing. Some people are curious if they have more email.
I do not know that all of those examples fit having a sense of mystery but I do not think they can be meaningfully abstracted into a list such as:
Learning new things
Learning obscure things
Learning hard things
Learning useful things
It seems that it would describe the list well enough, but it seems more of a description than a definition. To use the Mars pyramid as an example: I am also curious about the Mars pyramid. But my curiosity has nothing to do with aliens. I just think it is interesting. Of course, I think the pyramid shaped rock that I just ran over with the lawnmower was interesting, too. I am curious about both simply because they are there. My sense of mystery is fully activated and I want to learn.
To break apart the description further, another example that may (or may not) stretch the definition of curious is this: I like to sit in the shower and feel the water on my skin. I am curious about it, even though there is no question being answered and no information being learned. My sense of mystery is present, but there is nothing new or useful in the process. It is purely aesthetic. Is this curiosity? I claim it fits.
On the other hand, obsessing about a rock on a planet because you have an answer in your head that you have been trying to find evidence for is not curiosity. It is not asking questions about things. It is trying to find questions to match the answer you already know. I would argue there is no sense of mystery there at all.
You know, some of us are “face men”—men who are turned on (or off) by faces. I literally can’t tell if a woman’s attractive to me or not unless I can see her face, which makes many popular jokes (e.g. “putting a bag over her head”) and supposedly “hot” women incomprehensible to me. Women with mean or vapid faces turn me off no matter what their bodies look like.
(I actually used to be really confused by the notions of “leg man”, “breast man”, etc. before I found out this other category existed; I couldn’t figure out what category I was in. Wish I could remember where I heard about it, though.)
I find these categories make me hungry for fried chicken.
The categories can get stranger than that, even. Personally, I dig long hair. Some people like short people. Some people like tan skin. Some people like personalities and are genuinely attracted to successful people. (Like Rockstars.)
Weird, eh?
This applies to curiosity as well. I am curious about the answers to puzzles. I am curious about things that other people may have wrong. I am curious about why I do certain things. Not everyone has this same list of curiosity (which is pretty similar to Yvain’s list). Some people are curious about trivia. Some are curious about what their significant other is doing. Some people are curious about how well their fantasy league is doing. Some people are curious if they have more email.
I do not know that all of those examples fit having a sense of mystery but I do not think they can be meaningfully abstracted into a list such as:
Learning new things
Learning obscure things
Learning hard things
Learning useful things
It seems that it would describe the list well enough, but it seems more of a description than a definition. To use the Mars pyramid as an example: I am also curious about the Mars pyramid. But my curiosity has nothing to do with aliens. I just think it is interesting. Of course, I think the pyramid shaped rock that I just ran over with the lawnmower was interesting, too. I am curious about both simply because they are there. My sense of mystery is fully activated and I want to learn.
To break apart the description further, another example that may (or may not) stretch the definition of curious is this: I like to sit in the shower and feel the water on my skin. I am curious about it, even though there is no question being answered and no information being learned. My sense of mystery is present, but there is nothing new or useful in the process. It is purely aesthetic. Is this curiosity? I claim it fits.
On the other hand, obsessing about a rock on a planet because you have an answer in your head that you have been trying to find evidence for is not curiosity. It is not asking questions about things. It is trying to find questions to match the answer you already know. I would argue there is no sense of mystery there at all.