I’ve long believed that curiosity was one of the most important components of our human makeup, possibly even responsible for evolution. I call it the “What?” factor (“Hmmm, what if we rubbed these two dry sticks together?” “What’s inside this?”) often in combination with the “How?” factor (“How can we get from here to there?” “How does this work?”). This trait is readily apparent in growing children – but for whom, as parents know, it’s mostly the “Why?” factor.
I recently began a college-level course I was interested in (“Introduction to Geology”) from a decades-old company that offers a plethora of subjects, both online and/or with DVDs/books, now often at deeply discounted prices, probably because the DVDs (which I happen to like best) are predicted to go the way of the Brontosaurus. I got a really discounted course by buying it on eBay, and you can enjoy them for free by going to the public library, which I’ve also done. You “study” the lessons at your own pace – no tests or surprise quizzes involved – just the fun of learning.
During this year of ennui, angst, and general brouhaha, I found myself along with many others – to borrow a phrase from the legendary singer-songwriter-mathematician Tom Lehrer – “Sliding down the razor blade of life.” It can become too easy to become uninterested in living life, one thing at a time, without even knowing that it’s happening. When suddenly one day you realize that there’s nothing more appealing to you now than long naps, you need to turn that leaf over and begin again.
Curiosity draws us forward and out of ourselves. It makes us feel alive again, and heightens our awareness of life. I was totally impressed by the contemporariness of a 1958 quote by author T.H. White in “The Once and Future King,” who wrote:
“The best thing for being sad," replied Merlin, beginning to puff and blow, "is to learn something. That's the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then – to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the only thing for you. Look what a lot of things there are to learn.”
And by “learning,” I don’t mean to suggest that what you’re interested in has to be “academic” or “school learning.” It can be about absolutely anything that you want to know a bit more about, or enjoy; it’s a big world out there.
In 2020 we have comparatively unlimited resources to learn, whether it’s physically reading a book, newspaper, or something online, watching a documentary on television, questioning Alexa, scrolling through YouTubes, pestering Google incessantly, wandering through the local library physically or online, taking short car trips to leaf peep or to unvisited areas of our state, taking up a new hobby (photography, painting, playing a musical instrument, jewelry-making, puzzle solving – you name it) and/or pursuing just about anything that your interest alights on.
The main point here is that lacking a tiny spark of curiosity, it’s a colorless and flat world. Even if your world has shrunk – and whose hasn’t these days? – there are ways to cope that didn’t exist for our ancestors 100 years ago. Personally, one of the things I’ve done is to take up bird watching from my porch. I always fed the birds, and they were always there, but until I decided to get up close and personal, I never realized the variety that visited me, including migrant birds in the fall. Who knew that a small bird I might formerly have lumped in with sparrows, was called a Pine Siskin? It started with “What is that bird that I don’t recognize?” It was the “What?” factor again. Try it. Warning: It can be addictive. And fun.
Sandra Matuschka of Tiverton is a freelance writer and columnist. Send feedback and suggestions to smatuschka@cox.net or C/O The Newport Daily News, P.O. Box 420, Newport, RI 02840.
October 25, 2020 at 12:30AM
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THE OPEN DOOR: The carrot of curiosity - newportri.com
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