Why does curiosity wane as we get older?
Children ask questions all the time. Harvard psychologist Paul Harris estimates that young children ask about 100 questions a day, but after age 5 the tendency to ask questions declines rapidly.
By the time most of us are adults, we rarely ask questions. Sure, we still ask one another about practical things, like “what’s for dinner?” or “where did you put the car keys?” But we have pretty much stopped asking questions that arise out of curiosity, like “why is the sky blue?” or “how does Bluetooth work?” or “are there dogs in heaven?”
Universities used to be places set aside for asking questions. They celebrated intellectual curiosity and robust, open disagreement about topics of importance. For the most part, they still are. For students who wants to deepen their understanding of what matters in life, they can find those of like mind. They can find fellow students and faculty who like to ask questions, who enjoy conversations that have no determinate end.
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The problem is, fewer students are coming into the university curious. It’s hard to say why, but it seems safe to say that our society overall just doesn’t value it much. We do not value curiosity in our politicians, in our coworkers, in our children. If we valued curiosity in our children, then we would make a concerted effort to ensure that it was an area of focus in schools. But curiously, it is not.
K-12 schools, for several decades now, have focused more and more on delivering measurable outcomes. And curiosity, for obvious reasons, is hard to measure on standardized tests. Yet that alone does not explain the disdain for curiosity.
Over the past several decades, many schools have adopted initiatives to promote values under the heading of something like “character education” or “values-based education.” Such initiatives seek to instill in young people traits such as responsibility, respect, integrity, optimism, persistence, empathy, grit, trust, tolerance, self-control and cooperation. All of these are worthy, of course, and I think we should devote even more attention to teaching them. I just wish educators would not consistently leave out curiosity. It should be at the top of the list.
It is a puzzling omission — a blind spot in our vision of what education is all about. After all, researchers have found curiosity, more than any other trait, is correlated with higher scores in both mathematics and reading. So, you would think that even the most hardcore defender of measurable outcomes would emphasize the role of curiosity in our schools. But no.
It is not just contemporary educators who overlook curiosity. You won’t find it listed among most philosophers’ lists of key virtues. Plato’s cardinal virtues consist of wisdom, courage, temperance and justice. The Apostle Paul’s theological virtues are faith, hope and love. He also spoke highly of peacefulness, kindness, patience and gentleness. Ben Franklin’s list of virtues includes temperance, silence, order, resolution, frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, tranquility, chastity and humility. The one he struggled with the most was humility.
Of all those virtues, curiosity is most closely linked to humility. In fact, in his description of how to acquire humility, Franklin wrote, “Imitate Jesus and Socrates.” And both Jesus and Socrates were endlessly curious.
When asked a question, Jesus either asked another question in return or else told a story. He was always trying to deepen the understanding of his followers, not just tell them what to do.
And Socrates, the world’s first moral philosopher, thought the greatest ethical failing is to assume to know what one does not know. It leads to all kinds of evils, like prejudice, resentment, suspicion, conspiracy, anger, envy and cowardice. That’s why he urged his followers to ask questions each day. “It is the greatest good,” he said, “to discuss virtue every day.” And how does one do that? By “questioning oneself and others.”
Curiosity is what got both Jesus and Socrates killed. They insisted on questioning the knowledge of those whose authority rested upon unquestioned obedience.
The plain fact is, curiosity is troublesome. Curious people tend to be nonconformists. They rock the boat. They refuse to stay in their lane. They are nosy, quirky, meddling and irritating. What parent, after enduring an endless line of questions from a child who won’t be satisfied, has not finally resorted to the old, reliable final answer: “Because I said so”? What boss has not, in so many words, said the very same thing?
But despite the inconvenience of curious people, we should encourage more of it. We should be patient with the endless questions of young children. We should prioritize curiosity in schools. We should seek out curious friends who enjoy learning new things. We should strive to nurture deeper curiosity in ourselves.
Make it a point to ask another person at least one meaningful question every day. Imitate Jesus and Socrates. It might annoy some of your friends, but it will make your life more interesting.