Curiosity Did Not Kill the Cat

‘Why?’ This is perhaps the most important question mankind has thought about. Probably even more important than ‘How?’ Certainly, more important than ‘What?’

It was the year 1666 AD, when a man with a peculiar and extraordinary sense of curiosity was sitting under a tree when an apple fell on him. Now imagine if the same incident happened with us. What would be our first reaction to that event? We would probably curse, shake it off and move on. But this man, Sir Isaac Newton, thought ‘Why?’ Why did the apple come down and not go upwards or any other way? How many of us would think like that for the day-to-day phenomenon happening around us? Why do we perform certain rituals? Why is the sky blue? Why is bike standing upright on two wheels while moving even though it is counterintuitive? We usually take the things as they are and accept without thinking about it.

Coming back to Newton. He pondered over this ‘Why?’ for over 20 years and in the year 1687, given the laws of motion which were governed by the new force called Gravity. Without understanding gravity, we would not have the basic modern facilities like airplanes, satellites, water pump, high rise buildings and what not, most of the things we take for granted today. It all became possible because one man was curious about why the apple fell.

Curiosity is one of the foremost important reasons, if the not the most important, mankind has made strides and leaps to the advancement of the world that we see today. Albert Einstein said, “I have no special talent. I’m just passionately curious.”

For the world to progress, we need thinkers, in all walks of life, be it social, technological, spiritual, scientific, humanities etc. Of course, asking the question of why and to embark on the journey of finding the answer is not easy. That is why there are only a handful of thinkers around us. And As we look through the history, we will find that the rate at which the world produces a revolutionary thinker is dropping. It is a valid question to ask why that is the case.

We shall understand the reasons specific to India. The first reason which can be easily observed is the blind faith we have put on the English Education System. My views on the English Education System and its purpose can be viewed here – https://rupamsrivastava.wordpress.com/2020/06/26/education-and-us-a-perspective/.

In the quest of coming first in the race, we have forgotten the real purpose of education – which is to be able to think freely and ask relevant questions. But what message are we giving to the tender minds of our children – You must come first in this race, or you will not survive. Now just imagine the impact of this subconscious message on the psychological makeup of the children. They become slave of the ‘Almighty Syllabus’ as they have to score marks. Their minds are burdened with finishing their syllabus. It does not promote curiosity as there is no scope for making mistakes. Mistakes are admonished. Slowly and steadily, we are all becoming well trained, not well educated. Well trained to do become a ‘worker’ in the workforce, and in that process, we are limiting our minds from its unfathomable capabilities.

The second most important reason to this is information overload. We are exposed to so much information through the digital and social media that we are being programmed to just consume, consume and just consume. We are no longer able to discern as to where the useful information ends and where the nonsense starts. The distraction is too much. Binge consumption has become a trend. But to what end? All this digital consumption is limiting the greatest gift we are provided with, that is imagination. We are losing our ability of imagination. Remember, how we used to find shapes in the stars and clouds. How our games used to be make-belief, yet so satisfying. Because they fueled our imagination. How many kids are doing that today? It’s because they are stuck to the screen after whatever little time they are getting after serving ‘Lord Syllabus’. All this is seriously hampering their ability of imagination and curiosity.

The one good thing that technology has done is making everyone aware. But awareness does not mean wisdom. And wisdom comes from thinking and learning. Everybody seems to know the ‘what’ part of any scenario. Everybody seems to know what has happened. Thanks to information overload, everybody seems to be greatly ‘informed’, but as to ‘why’ something has happened, only a handful. Nobody has time to really think deeply about anything. It is because thinking takes effort. It takes time. It takes focus. But the current generation is so used to instant gratification, that thinking about something seems difficult. We do not have the attention span required to really focus and think. We are so dependent on internet to do the things for us that we have stopped putting efforts for the things we need or want. We are not even able to think for good gifts for our loved ones. Google does that too. It is a real shame. And it is a dangerous trend, as because of this habit of straightaway going to Sir Google for answers without putting real effort is undermining the importance of struggle. The young ones are shying away from struggle. Struggle evolves us and makes us more self-aware. At a hint of a little bit of struggle, they seem to drop their course of action. But you cannot swipe left or right the challenges of life to get away with them. It needs patience and efforts. Clearly, a generation that wants everything on the click of the button, would naturally find thinking hard, as patience is a lost virtue.

It is time we need to take a step back and see where we are going with all this and where we will end up being. Parents feel so proud when their 3-year-olds can unlock their iPad and watch nonsense at ends. 3-year-olds are not supposed to do that. They are supposed to fuel their imagination, seeing the world, building their cognitive ability. This behavior of exposing our young ones to the screen at so tender age is dumbing them down. The culture of reading is becoming extinct with the advent of social media. Without reading, how is one supposed to think better and think freely. We are losing our mental peace as there is so much clutter of information that we get lost in the information and stop thinking clearly. Curiosity has brought mankind to where it is today. We became smart, we put efforts and thoughts to understand the way the world works, and we made the use of our learnings to make ungodly technological advancements. All this is done by putting efforts, with patience, with perseverance, with focus and with curiosity. But all these golden values seem to be getting lost slowly. And as humans, it is our responsibility to pass on these values to our young ones, especially curiosity. Because curiosity is the root of all greatness mankind can achieve. And if we are not curious, are we even alive?