Curiosity is universal. Labradors, porpoises, two-year-olds, and every person who presses enter on Google is curious. However, it is much more powerful than we realize. It is “the spark that starts a filtration—in a bar, at a party, across the lecture hall in Economics 101.” Curiosity nourishes our best human relationships by prompting simple questions like, to listen to the answer, and to ask the next question.
Curiosity also dictates the quality of many ordinary experiences. A curious salesperson might be curious enough to learn about the customer, curious enough to learn enough about the product, and curious enough curious enough to put the two together. Curiosity is the way to uncover ideas, it is the way to make them spark.
“Curiosity isn’t just a tool for improving your own life and happiness, your ability to win a great job or a great spouse. It is the key to the things we say we value most in the modern world: independence, self-determination, self government, self-improvement. Curiosity is the path to freedom itself.”