Sublime

Curiosity—the urge to know, to see, or to experience—is what motivates information-seeking behavior. This drive has long been associated with positive emotions, lower levels of anxiety, strengthened relationships, achievement, and longevity.

I strongly believe, for all babies and a significant number of grownups, curiosity is a bigger motivator than money. Elwyn Berlekamp

Curiosity and possibility are typically subject to a novelty bias. People commonly conceptualize possibility as a harbinger of the new. What is old is already actualized; what is new is merely possible. Similarly, curiosity is thought, among scholars and lay people alike, to be piqued by and to produce the new. Repeatedly, across multiple fields an

When people deal with a new, unexpected, or complex event, they have to assess whether they have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to handle it. Building on existing knowledge creates a protective comfort shield to get a curiosity project started; it inspires confidence to go beyond traveled terrain and create your own path. Scientific studies h

But in a complex world, it’s impossible to know what might be useful in the future. It’s important, therefore, to spread our cognitive bets. Curious people take risks,

more state than trait. That is, our curiosity is highly responsive to the situation or environment we’re in. It follows that we can arrange our lives to stoke our curiosity or quash it.

In this sense, curiosity cannot simply be the need to know (which would then be satisfied with knowledge gained) or the motivation to seek information (which would then be satisfied with information secured). Rather, curiosity has to be an extending and extensive instinct, always edging around. And indeed, what could be stranger?

This attraction to everything novel is what the scientists who study it call diversive curiosity.