how to be curious
I think I’m a curious person but I haven’t felt strongly curious for the past few weeks. I have a few theories:
I expect that learning something feels wildly exciting 100% of the time, but maybe that’s not how learning feels during the process?
I’m so laidback that as long as not knowing something doesn’t make my life harder, it’s okay not to know. So lack of urgency (school is good for me for this reason)
I’m curious about something else.
I need a more engaging format. I think I learn best from objects, documentaries, photography, etc.
But I notice that these feelings apply to knowledge acquisition. Studying a specific subject. I still feel curious about things that don’t have an obvious syllabus, creating things, doing things with my body. I’m curious about human experience which is why I read. I’ve been learning how to cook basic meals, like basil chicken and over-easy eggs. Last weekend at Socratica I painted birds again lmao. I also <3 yoga and have been practicing more than 3x a week the past few months. I started my practice last year, and back then the standard class felt pretty hard. For many months I practiced at home to save money. But I started attending classes again and found that I’ve gotten much stronger. Very happy to see progress !!
For knowledge acquisition, creating things, and bodily learning, here’s what works for me:
Be in front of the thing. When I was travelling to and from SF I felt obsessed with planes and airports. Whenever I see a cargo train I feel super curious about the routes and the history of shipping lol.
Pay attention to what you pay attention to. Then follow that.
Be around curious people. Talk about it with people.
Free association. Step away from the material and walk around and sleep and feel happy about knowing a little bit more about the world
When the topic is “in discourse.” It helps me to watch/read different people explain the same topic cuz it’s like omg everyone is discussing this. It gives me a 3D view of it.
I noticed that when my dad wants to know about something he’ll watch 5-10 different vids about it on YouTube lol
I personally value curiosity because I want to see the world in more detail. Context is gorgeous.
I find that I’m unfocused when I’m thinking about what my interests / feelings (aka, involuntary states) say about my identity. The last time I entered a complete flow state was during my last badminton tournament a few years ago. I still think about badminton and sports a lot because my family is sporty lol. What I believe now is that people perform suboptimally in training and competition when they think every poor shot testifies to their self-worth. Fixation stagnates growth. I define fixation as feeling like you need an specific outcome and if you don’t get it you’re a failure or whatever.
But fixation is antithetical to curiosity. When you’re curious you’re open to more than one way of being, to being revised by the world again and again.