You are going to die early if you hate being curious
You can’t teach an old dog new tricks. Really?
Many people used to think that reaching a certain age meant your brain stopped evolving. That’s where the saying “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” comes from.
—Darius Forex
Later on in this article, we will dig into both ways:
What'll happen if you stop being curious?
What’ll happen if you start being curious?
But first of all
Before writing this article, I became very curious about the word ‘curiosity’ and searched for articles about it. I read a great article by Britannica’s Curiosity Compass, “The Science of Curiosity."
Here are a few things I got curious about:
Why are humans curious?
How does curiosity work?
and much more…
Why are we curious?
Once upon a time, an early human figured out how to start a fire using stones. And when he did it using stones—I mean, just with the stones—it became an invention. We call it the stone tool, used to start the fire. Further, many inventions were made to improve the world and humankind.
Each of those inventions was so incredible that we still research and make things. What’s the key? There is a special spark in all of us that helps us get eager to learn and discover how things work. That special spark is curiosity.
Curiosity: The desire to seek out knowledge and learn how things work.How does curiosity work?
We, humans, are ‘information seekers’. Not only humans, but all other living creatures are information seekers. We seek what’s happening in our environment; we seek information around us. Whenever something new happens around you or some noise comes from the road, you try to find out what happened. This is your curiosity state. You try to learn things by seeking pieces of information around you. When you start picking up the information, something more interesting happens; your brain starts rewarding you for learning things. Your brain rewards you for being curious and pursuing that curiosity.
Here’s what ‘Science of Curiosity (the article)’ says about it:
That’s right – your brain rewards you for being curious, and for pursuing that curiosity. Researchers have determined that dopamine, the brain’s reward chemical, is intricately linked to the brain’s curiosity state 1. When you explore and satisfy your curiosity, your brain floods your body with dopamine, which makes you feel happier. This reward mechanism increases the likelihood that you’ll try and satisfy your curiosity again in the future.
And much more…
Yes, there’s much more I got curious about, like types of curiosity, 10 tips to improve your curiosity, discovering your curiosity type, and much more. Your curious guy Sumit always gets curious about anything. But I don’t want to make your curiosity boring by telling you about what I am curious about. Now I’ll explain why you clicked this email or the article. I know you want that question answered. So, without wasting any more time, let me dig into the questions.
1/ What will happen if you stop being curious?
Do you know why I always say let me dig into the questions? It’s because I love questions more than the answers. I feel questions are more interesting than the answers because answers fade away but questions do not. I live with questions, and that’s why I am your curious guy. Curiosity is directly proportional to asking questions. Okay, pardon me, it’s asking great questions. And if we stop being curious, we will stop asking great questions. And if we stop asking great questions, we can’t live with them. And when we can’t live with them… This is going to be long, so let me just stop here; I’ll answer it at the end.
You are going to be passionless and purposeless if you are not curious enough to pursue your curiosity.This was a simple answer, just for now; I am going to burn your ass in the final thoughts section (just kidding).
2/ What will happen if you start being curious?
In today’s world, our curiosity isn’t as useful for our survival as it was for our ancestors. But it is useful for our happiness and finding what we love to do. Pursuing our curiosity helps us find our passion and purpose in life. What I believe is our curiosity is everything. Let me give you a clear picture of what I mean by taking the reference to Mark Manson's words:
Curiosity cures: anxiety, ignorance, selfishness, extremism.
Curiosity creates: empathy, compassion, knowledge, growth.
Curiosity prevents: arrogance, judgment, stagnation.
Practice curiosity.
Start being curious; practice curiosity. Start pursuing your curiosity to find out your passion and purpose. Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks? Let me rephrase this: You can teach an old dog new tricks only if one is curious to learn. That's it. Be curious, stay curious, and be old happily while pursuing your curiosity. Now, you can teach an old dog new tricks.
Scientists say that there are two distinct types of curiosity we can express:
Epistemic curiosity: When you hear or see a topic (let’s say, ‘epistemic’), you put yourself in the rabbit hole and go on digging it because you want to know what it means and its use in the world. That’s epistemic curiosity.
Empathic curiosity: Humans are connected; we want to know what others are thinking and feeling, and we are curious about it. That spark to know about people is empathic curiosity.
Pursuing both curiosities makes you a great curious guy like me. (Flexing, Ah! I was waiting for this.)
I think this much is fine to make you feel curious. Now, let me add my final thoughts to your heart.
Final Thoughts: You are going to die early if you hate being curious.
Do you know why I put a full stop above? It’s because it’s the end. Let me ask you one question: Are you really not curious about anything? No seriously, you can slap me if I am burning your ass, but I want to know why you are not curious about anything. At least be curious about yourself. If you’re not curious about yourself as well, then why are you living in this fucking amazing world purposelessly? I am really not sorry for my harsh words because I am so serious about being curious here. I know I can’t force anyone to be curious like me, but still, I am forcing you by burning up your ass. Wait, what? You have a purpose. Oh yeah, then why are you not curious about it, and how are you working on your purpose without being curious? This is a big question; think about it and let me know, or else I won’t stop burning your…
If you are passionless and purposeless your whole life, it's not like you're going to die early because of it, but it's also not less than dying; actually, you are going to die. All of us are going to die one day, but I want all of us to die happily with our curiosity, or else I am here to burn you up.
Let me finish this with a mark that’ll stick:
Start with being curious about yourself.
I bet you won’t do it completely because knowing yourself is an endless game.
—Simple Digest
Could you buy me a coffee☕?
Happy Sunday :)
P.S. Going for go-karting today, what about you?