Curious and Creative

Tag: education

  • Curiosity Enhances Our Connections with Others

    2/21/2025

    Curiosity acts as a powerful catalyst. Curiosity, like other skills that power our emotional intelligence, is a practice wrote Erin Walsh. This is the kind of curiosity that connects us.

    Curiosity and wonder can also foster creativity, improve well-being, and deepen interpersonal relationships, wrote Nicole Whiting, MA. Curiosity and wonder are intertwined psychological states that enrich our mental and emotional lives and enhance engagement with the world.

    However, recent studies have shown that, as humans, we are experiencing loneliness at a higher rate. Harvard has conducted the longest in-depth study of Adult Development. It has studied adult physical and mental well-being. Harvard’s findings have shown that relationships not only make us happier, but keep us healthier too.

    In a world that is more divisive, with demands of remote work and working longer hours, people have struggled to foster feelings of belonging. Feeling of loneliness is taking a big toll on our well-being, noted Davis.

    According to Whiting, curiosity and wonder make our social interactions richer by helping us form deeper bonds. People who are curious tend to engage more meaningfully, while trying to understand others’ views.

    Davis wrote that we could decrease our loneliness and fulfill our need to belong by enhancing and increasing our curiosity.

    “When you show curiosity and you ask questions, and find out something interesting about another person, people disclose more, share more, and they return the favor, asking questions of you,” said Todd Kashdan, Ph.D., director of George Mason University’s Well-Being Lab.

    According to Kashdan, it is better to be interested in others than interesting.

    Curiosity can connect us with others noted Walsh and Kashdan. Curiosity has been found to expand our empathy, strengthen relationships, increase collaboration, and improve wellbeing.

    Davis said curiosity leads to opportunities to connect with others and find a sense of belonging. At the conclusion of a three-week course, Davis concluded that students enjoyed the training, they most look forward to connecting with each other even more during the live weekly calls. They yearned for more time to connect with one another.

    Curiosity is an initiative-taking facet of wonder according to Davis. It can spur us to learn more, propel us to become more engaged in new experiences and seek novel perspectives. Through these new experiences, we can connect with others in enriching and meaningful ways.

    It is important to encourage this kind of curiosity. However, we need to be aware of and acknowledge any personal biases and assumptions that we have could shut down our curiosity Walsh. It is also important to move towards and embrace our feelings and emotions, even painful ones. If you can feel your own sadness or grief, you may be more open to and curious about the grief of others.

    Here are a few ways to use curiosity to enhance our connections:

    • Show that you care by showing a genuine interest in others; this can help ease jitters of others.
    • Ask open-ended questions that elicit detailed responses and encourage a deeper level of conversation. This can encourage others to open. If you are not used to doing this, it will take practice. Be patient.
    • Practice active listening. Pause. Take a moment to take in their reply. Perhaps ask a follow-up question. Be genuinely interested.
    • Be willing to be vulnerable. People will respond to this and may reply by sharing their own vulnerabilities.
    • Invite people to share their personal stories. Seek out people who have different experiences than your own. Let your curiosity take the wheel.

    Showing a person that you care about is crucial to gaining their trust and interest advised Notas.

    Resources:

    Image by freepik

    Davis, Jeffrey, M.A. “Curiosity: A Surprising Key to Belonging. How Wonder can lead you toward more authentic connections.” March 20,2023. Retrieved on 2/16/2025 from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/tracking-wonder/202303/curiosity-a-surprising-key-to-belonging

    Kashdan, Todd.

    Notas, Nick. “Embrace Curiosity and Connect with More People.” Retrieved on 2/16/2025 from https://www.nicknotas.com/blog/embrace-curiosity-and-connect-with-more-people/

    Walsh, Erin. “The Connective Power of Curiosity: Why Getting Curious is Key to Our Person and Collective Wellbeing.” Spark & Stitch Institute. Posted 12/5/2023. Retrieved on 2/16/2025 from https://sparkandstitchinstitute.com/the-connective-power-of-curiosity/#:~:text=One%20study%20demonstrated%20that%20curious,emotional%20intelligence%2C%20is%20a%20practice.

    Whiting, Nicole, MA. “The Case for Curiosity: How a wonder-driven life enhances well-being.” May 16, 2024. Retrieved on 2/16/2025 from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/beyond-limits/202404/the-case-for-curiosity#:~:text=Deepening%20Interpersonal%20Connections%2C%20Enhancing%20Well-Being%2C

  • Curiosity Can Deepen Our Understanding of Ourselves

    February 13, 2025

    Did you know that curiosity helps us develop mind management skills that can lead to personal autonomy? The idea of becoming more autonomous is intriguing.

    Mind management skills include critical thinking, a questioning attitude, and ability to explore different perspectives. These skills will ultimately lead to better self-awareness.

    Blogger and Podcaster Avik Chakraborty shared that curiosity and non-judgment are essential elements of awareness. Curiosity is what drives you to learn and explore new things. Non-judgment is what allows you to accept yourself and others without criticism.

    How important is self-awareness? Writer Jonathan Park pointed out that “Without the self-awareness to accurately judge our knowledge and capabilities, we can overestimate our abilities, oversimplify the world we live in, and overlook the skills of others.”

    Park wrote that a lack of self-awareness can lead to overconfidence. When we are overconfident with our skills and fail to adopt curiosity and self-awareness with our learning, we only evaluate ourselves from our limited and highly subjective perspective.

    My research has revealed that curiosity is key in stimulating our learning. This includes learning about us. Curiosity also improves our self-awareness. Curiosity enhances critical thinking because it encourages us to question the status quo. It opens our minds so we can look at a situation from several angles. Curiosity promotes adaptability and flexibility.

    Neuroscientist Dr. Caroline Leaf stated that through asking yourself questions, you can gain a sense of your own abilities and learn how you can adapt and change to improve your life. She also noted that when we become more mindful of our own thoughts and emotions, we can become better at understanding our internal processes.

    Curiosity creates an energy and neurochemical flow through the brain that results in an increasingly malleable state in the relevant brain networks wrote Leaf. When in this malleable state, our brain allows you to reorganize, change and expand the memories housed within a thought structure.

    Chakraborty wrote that there are several ways that we increase our awareness: pay attention to our thoughts and feelings throughout our day, and journal about our experiences, thoughts and feelings. Meditate or practice mindfulness. Perhaps talk with a friend or therapist about your experiences.

    Resilience Coach Russell Harvey suggested- that curiosity increases positivity. Being more curious is intricately linked with greater life satisfaction and stronger overall mental wellbeing. Like Dr. Leaf, Harvey said that being curious about us is an effective way to increase our awareness because it encourages us to ask questions and reflect.

    Learn with curiosity, not our egos. If we learn something to become an expert, we can make false assumptions, and could make brash generalizations and misconceptions, wrote Park.

    Leaf wrote that using this method of asking ourselves questions is more effective in reconceptualizing our minds. Through this process, we can distance ourselves from what we are thinking about.

    I invite you to move to a quiet area and take a few moments to ask yourself the following: What thoughts weigh you down? What are your thoughts trying to tell you? Articulate what your thoughts are now. You can write down your answers in a journal or notebook. Become curious about the answers that you give. Reflect on how you answer the questions. Learn a little more about yourself.

    Park also suggested checking your assumptions. Assumptions may be misleading, incomplete or inaccurate.

    I think this is good advice. You may even have assumptions about yourself. I know I have had made assumptions about myself. These were less than helpful. This where asking self-reflective questions can be key.

    Challenge your beliefs and expectations to minimize making assumptions. Take the time to validate your resources. This is where curiosity comes in handy. It helps you find credible and diverse sources of information when learning about a new subject.

    Curiosity can give us a deeper and richer life as we begin to have a better understanding of who we are, our thoughts, and our mental and emotional well-being stated Leaf.

    Lead with curiosity.

    Resources:

    image found on Freepik.com

  • “The Importance of Asking Why”

    January 26, 2025

    “Our behavior is affected by our assumptions or our perceived truths. We make decisions based on what we think we know,” wrote Simon Sinek, author of the book Start with Why.

    Many know the importance of asking “why “ questions. Many have sought knowledge and better understanding, which is perhaps why Simon Sinek’s TED Talk “Start with Why” has over 9 million views, and why his book Start with Why has sold over a million copies worldwide.

    As a toddler and young child, humans ask many questions, particularly ones that begin with “why.” Asking questions helps the toddler and young child develop language and understanding. The average 2 to 5 year old may ask over 400 questions per day.

    During Andrew Vincent’s 2019 TEDx Talk, he stated, once a child enters and proceeds through the educational process, questions start to no longer be asked or questioned. When a teen enters secondary school, they start chasing exam results. As teens, students may not think about the question at all. The focus becomes getting an answer that is required to get the grade that the student wants.  

    “The question is no longer questioned, and the question is set by someone else,” commented Vincent.  Yet, questions will arise, and answers matter. Vincent pointed out that questions matter even more. The questions of discovery are the beautiful questions, and they can never be used too much.

    I found several resources outlining benefits of asking questions, including ones that Andrew Vincent notes his TEDx Talk. Asking questions helps us:

    • Forge connections
    • Emphasize.
    • Get to know people.
    • Understand why things are the way they are.
    • Clarify underlying motivations.
    • Encourage critical thinking and critical thinking skills.
    • Build stronger relationships.

    This brings me back to Sinek. In his book, Sinek highlighted the concept of the Golden Circle. Think of three concentric circles:  In the smallest inner circle is the word ‘why”, in the next circle is the word “how,” and the outer circle is the word “what.” Many organizations and individuals may be able to answer what they do and how it is done.  Yet, there are many, perhaps even yourself, your organization, or your business may not have answered the why of what you do. Answering the “why” we do what we do could help us understand better, plus, motivate us and others. Most particularly, we differentiate ourselves and stand out from our competitors.


    The Golden Circle as described by Simon Sinek

    Resources:

    Carew International. Retrieved on 1/25/2025 from https://www.carew.com/why-should-we-ask-why-20-creative-ways-to-ask-why-that-you-can-use-today/

    Sinek, Simon. Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Act. Portfolio/Penguin.

    Vincent, Andrew. “The Art of Asking Questions.” TEDX Bollington. TEDX Talks. July 15.2019.

  • Do You Ask Questions?

    January 13, 2025

    Did you know that a four-year-old asks between 200 and 300 questions a day?  According to a report by Harvard based psychologist Paul Harris, a child can ask around 40 thousand questions between 2 to 4 years of age. Asking questions, particularly “why” questions, is a crucial part of a child’s language development and learning process.

    Yet, between childhood and adulthood, the number of questions adults ask diminishes greatly. Adults ask an average of six questions a day. As a curious person and writer, I ask a lot of questions, but I was astounded at that low average.  Frankly, I am saddened that more adults aren’t asking more questions. If childlike wonder is indicative of the number of questions asked, adults’ sense of wonder dissipates so drastically as we age.

    Although children look to adults as teachers, wrote Regan Olsson, we often don’t consider what kids could be teaching us.

    Olsson interviewed Kristine Gotto, Ph.D., Psychologist at the University Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona. She shared that one life lesson we can learn from kids is to be curious and excited. Being inquisitive is how children learn, as they aren’t burdened with worry or hindered by what others think.

    We can watch kids take risks and be fearless. We can also learn to do it ourselves. Although it may be hard, we can grow a little each day, said Dr. Gotto, adding, life is about learning. If we are willing to be humble, we can learn from what kids can offer us.

    As I mentioned, the average adult may ask six questions a day. There are others who depend on asking questions to improve life, innovate, and become more creative. I have learned that as important as it is to ask questions, it is just as important to the learn the art of asking questions.

    Journalist and author Warren Berger was interviewed in “The Art of Asking Questions,” an educational video on Big Think’s YouTube page. Berger stated it sounds counterintuitive, but questions are becoming more important than answers. The ideas of questions become more important than questions are embraced by Silicon Valley, and other centers of innovation.

    Berger has done his own research. He found at the root and origination of many innovations, there is a great question. Questioning allows us to organize our thinking around what we don’t know.

    “We have so much knowledge, information, and answers at our fingertips,” said Berger. He added it is just as important to ask the right questions as it can help us know what to do with this information.

    As a child, we ask many naïve questions, but as we get older, we learn when it is appropriate to ask questions, and what questions may be considered appropriate in a social setting, states Jonathan Keats, philosopher and author of You Belong to the Universe.

    Keats said to ask a naïve question.  Even if it is in our mind, ask that sort of question. We can let it play out, that process in our minds until it “is more concrete and actionable in an adult responsible way.”

    Questions are a survival skill for all of us, stated Berger.

    Berger has spent a lot of time doing his own research. He discovered that, “In schools, we really value the answers and there is almost no value placed on asking a good question.” Presently, teachers are stretched and stressed to teaching to the test, there is little time for students’ questions that do not relate to the curriculum.  He has is now seeing schools and teachers are addressing the importance of asking questions and trying to deal how schools value asking a good question.  

    Ask dumb questions, said Tim Ferris, investor and author of Tools of the Titans. There is power in the absurd question. Journaling is very important. Ferris said he writes down a question each day, then he writes three to five journal pages answering that question. As you journal, you can come up with interesting ideas. Although ninety percent of what you write in your journal may turn out to be garbage, that other ten percent could lead you in an interesting direction that can revolutionize your business or life.

    Our world and culture are governed by shame and political correctness, commented Ferriss. He has noticed that more and more people are not speaking their minds or asking questions, due to shame and embarrassment. Override the embarrassment of asking that dumb question, and just ask it, said Ferris.

    Perhaps that dumb question that is in your mind, if asked may turn out to be the smartest question because you were the only one who dared to ask it replied Ferris.

    Adults should ask more questions than they do. Curiosity is healthy. Asking lots of questions is healthy. Both spur development and growth, wrote David Benjamin and David Komlos, former contributors to Forbes.com.

    Are you asking questions? I encourage you to be fearless, take risks, ask that question that is on your mind.

    Resources:

    Big Think “The Art of asking the right questions.” Retrieved on 1/10/2025 from the art of asking the right questions | Tim Ferriss, Warren Berger, Hope Jahren & more | Big Think

    Benjamin, David and David Komlos. “Has Your Organization Stopped Asking Questions.” Forbes.com September 26,2022. Retrieved on 1/10/2025 from https://www.forbes.com/sites/benjaminkomlos/2022/09/26/has-your-organization-stopped-asking-questions/

    Olsson, Regan, contributing writer. “Four Life Lessons We Can Learn from Kids.” May 19, 2021, Banner Health. Retrieved on 1/10/2025 from https://www.bannerhealth.com/healthcareblog/advise-me/four-life-lessons-we-can-learn-from-kids

  • A Maverick of Experimental Psychology

    January 9, 2025

    Did you know that there are several types of curiosity held by humans? Neither did I.

    As a curious person who often jumps down internet “rabbit holes,” my exploration led me to various articles on curiosity. My exploration landed on Daniel Berlyne. Berlyne was a leading 20th century world renowned experimental psychologist. In the 1950’s, Berlyne was one of the first psychologists to offer a comprehensive model of curiosity.

    According to an article “The Five Dimensions of Curiosity,” psychologists have compiled a large body of research on curiosity and its benefits. Since the 1950s, psychologists have offered up competing theories about what makes a person curious. One of the leading minds was Berlyne.

    Berlyne noted that curiosity is a primary driver of exploration. Berlyne was the first to offer a comprehensive model of curiosity. He concluded that diversive curiosity occurs when a bored person searches for something-anything-to boost arousal. There is also specific curiosity that happens when a hyper-stimulated person tries to understand what’s happening in order to reduce arousal to a more managed level.

    Berlyne was a British and Canadian psychologist, born in Britain in April 1924. Berlyne graduated from Cambridge University with a B.A. in 1947, and an M.A. in 1949. Berlyne first worked in academics at St. Andrews University in Scotland. In 1951, Berlyne left Scotland to pursue his Ph.D. at Yale University in the United States. During his career, Berlyne worked at several universities in Canada and the United States. He specialized in the field of experimental and exploratory psychology.

    He wrote or co-authored seven books and 150 journal articles and book chapters. He was honored as Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Fellow of the British Psychological association, and lectured at universities on four different continents. He served as President of the Canadian Psychological Association from 1971-72. Those are just a few of the honors that Berlyne earned.

    Berlyne made considerable amount time to the study of curiosity. He wanted to know why various species displayed curiosity, and what motivates them to explore their environments. According to the American Journal of Psychology, Berlyne’s most important single work was in his 1960 book, Conflict, Arousal and Curiosity. This book was the “tour de force” and influenced so many in the fields of psychology. Berlyn’s view was ahead of his time.

    Writers John J. Furedy and Christine Furedy characterized Berlyne as a maverick, because of his independence of thought and research methods he utilized. Based on interview material and other resources, the Furedys collected and studied, they concluded that Berlyne was extremely interested in ideas for their own sakes. Berlyne’s independent trait showed up in his teaching as well. Much of the content of the post-doctoral students’ work is related to what Berlyne was concerned about at the time. Yet, there was little similarity in form of thought or methods among his students. Berlyne spent considerable time and energy teaching his peers and students how to do research. Berlyne marched to his own drumbeat. Berlyne died young at the age of fifty-two in 1976 after a prolonged illness and many operations. Berlyne’s research lives on and has influenced many other generations interested in his work.

    Resources:

    American Journal of Psychology, March 1978, Vol. 91, no.1, pp 133-137

    Hayden, Benjamin, and Celeste Kidd. “The Psychology and Neuroscience of Curiosity.” Retrieved on 1/2/2025 from

    Furedy, John J. and Christine P Furedy, “Daniel Berlyne and psychonomy; the bear of a different drum.” Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 1979. 13 (4), 203-205.

    Kashdan, Todd B, David J. Disaboto, Fallon R Goodman, and Carl Naughton. “The Five Dimensions of Curiosity.” Harvard Business Review. September-October 2018 *(the magazine) https://hbr.org/2018/09/the-five-dimensions-of-curiosity retrieved on 1/3/2025.

    British Psychologist Daniel Berlyne