Tenet 1: Be Curious!!!!!

If you want to know what is going down, you are curious.

Being curious means letting yourself be interested in the world and the people in it. It’s okay to observe the mundane. Life isn’t always exciting – neither are the creative solutions. I promise you, however, that there is a very human fulfillment in the uncovering of these solutions.

Being curious is different than ‘learning always’, another tenet. Learning is a very active attempt to train yourself to do something better. To think differently, or to adapt a physical skill. Being curious is not geared towards a higher objective like these necessarily. It is simply raw observational power. Certainly, learning new skills can help you to be a better observer. But anyone, anywhere can be curious. Can observe. It often requires letting go of inhibitions and giving yourself permission to explore something you are curious about. You will find that you have natural curiosities. Identify them and explore them. Do so in an active way. Try to become aware of your experiences with such curiosities and what you gain from exploring them.

Virtues of a Curious Life

There are indeed some things that are baked into one’s personality that lend to creative thinking. One such thing that comes to mind for me is my obsessive nature. When I encounter an idea, I do nothing but dwell upon it for weeks, even months at a time. I have an enthusiasm built into me, that I have developed over my lifetime, that is almost embarrassing at times, it is so intense. But there are hallmarks of creativity that are not personality quirks and are extremely common among the majority of great creative thinkers, inventors and scientists, throughout history. A glaringly obvious trait is the nature of curiosity in their lives. I believe this is something that you can learn- you can train your brain to engage in your natural curiosities and get a reinforcing dopamine kick when the curiosity is satisfied. But why exactly is curiosity a virtue? Why should we strive to lead curious lives?

Humans, like cats, are a naturally curious breed. It is baked into our genome to turn over stones. But we don’t have 9 lives, and so it is also baked into use an aversion to risk. When the risk of exploiting a curiosity outweighs the perceived benefit, we don’t explore. But how can we know the benefit if we don’t know what’s under the stone? We don’t. There is no way to know for certain – that would be predicting the future. We have a certain perception of what the benefit may be. We can take calculated risks based on probabilities. We can poke and prod around the subject matter in other ways. But we cannot know beforehand.

One example of this idea is space exploration. We don’t know the benefits yet. We know very little about the destination of our quests. We probe with satellites, telescopes and high-powered beams of light. Still we know very little. Then do we stop? No, we press on and explore. This intense curiosity of mankind often defies powerful forces like economics and government. We, as a people, have prioritized satisfying the intense curiosities of the masses. This, perhaps, speaks to the natural tendencies of humanity as a whole.

The question remains – how does curiosity benefit me directly as a creative mind? At best, I discover something new and valuable, at worst, I waste my time at huge opportunity cost! Managing risk is a necessary part of the job of the creative mind, one that we discuss in tenet 4, reduce risk. It is essential so that you can become free of fear and of these concerns and thus indulge your curious nature freely.

What is the new and valuable that I may uncover? These can manifest as physical objects that exist in the world, but they can also be internal patterns of the self. Curiosity is a willingness to uncover truth about nature. Nature and Your Nature. An understanding of the truth of nature, her reality is a necessary precursor to improving that truth. Not everything is a s capitalistic as to improve improve improve. There is a simple enjoyment in understanding or obtaining truth in itself.

But it is, let us reflect again, the role of the creative mind not only to collect interesting ideas, but to alter the world in some fashion.

Knowing Truth is a prerequisite to changing it.

Curiosity need not concern monumental things that are scientifically groundbreaking. Certainly, it is fun to think on the edge of collective human understanding. The point is, curiosity may concern anything. And being curious, uncovering little truths about the world around you and about yourself is as groundbreaking as any other truth.

Perhaps we need a working definition of truth. Truth is simply the ultimate reality of things. All things. Everything. It is impossible to know reality, so we must make our best guesses. We take inputs and develop mental models. These models exist to serve us. If our goals diverge from finding ultimate truth, our mental models will update accordingly. We understand the world via these mental models. It is vital to control them, not let them control you.

Question your mental models and be willing to update them according to your pursuit of truth, and carefully. This is the heart of curiosity.

So how does a curious life then benefit me? If you are willing to update your collection of mental models, you will be more likely to home in on truth (Truth- the ultimate nature of reality) over time. As you increase your experiences and add knowledge over time, you have the opportunity to get closer to the Truth. Your mental models exist for every facet of your life. You have a model in your brain of what your spouse is. It is not equal to who she actually is. It is just a model that you (hopefully) improve as you get to know them over time. Your understanding of finances and economy is a model. Same as your understanding of the mechanics of space and time is a model. Religion is a model. Your entire perception of reality is based on every moment you have existed in space and time.

To conclude, let me say this. Curious living is one of those things that you must have, at least to some degree. If you don’t have it, terrible things can happen to your creative mind. I have witnessed these things. Without flexibility of curiosity seeded deep in the soil of your mind, you become rigid in your beliefs. Unaccepting of any other possible truth but your own, like a zealot, without consideration that there are bigger truths than you can know beyond your own horizons. This is a dangerous place for the mind to be, and the grip this rigidity can have on one’s life can be shattering. You must have curiosity. You must.