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Being curious is nothing to be ashamed of. On the contrary. We’re naturally curious about ourselves and our surroundings even at the fetal stage, and as children we ask up to 300 questions a day. -Our biological novelty preference, that our brains are programmed to be attracted to new things, is the foundation of our development, says Mikael Heimann, professor emeritus of developmental psychology at Linköping University.
Have you ever wondered what curiosity represents? Many see it as a character trait or ability, but the scientific world actually classifies it as one of our nine basic emotions.
Mikael Heimann describes curiosity as our inner motivation to explore and seek out new knowledge, which forms the basis of all development and innovation. Humans and animals are all born curious, and we all seek out information to help us find our place in our surroundings using our senses: Our curiosity can be piqued by something we hear, see, feel, taste or smell.
“Curiosity or inquisitiveness is a basic psychological and biological ability, a foundational motivational factor. Without it, we wouldn’t be where we are today; our curiosity is our impetus to discover and improve” says Mikael Heimann.
Historically, our curiosity is directly linked to learning and survival. For primitive humans, curiosity and inquisitiveness were about finding new food and new places to settle in order to survive. If our ancestors hadn’t been curious, we wouldn’t have invented electricity, airplanes, computers or AI. In other words, curiosity is one of humanity’s most important driving forces for advancement.
“Curiosity isn’t about finding the answer, but about the desire to find the answer.”
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Mikael Heimann says curiosity is a key factor in human development even from the fetal stage. Ultrasound studies show that we explore our bodies and surroundings even in the womb.
“Our brains are wired to take note of and be attracted to novelty. It’s called biological novelty preference, and it forms the basis of our curiosity.”
In studies where a baby is shown two identical pictures, and then one of the pictures is switched out, the baby is automatically drawn to the new picture.
“We want to investigate what is different, and that leads us further and develops our intelligence,” Heimann says.
Small children tirelessly explore themselves and their surroundings—
they twist and turn and look and touch and taste things. They get up again and again, even if they fall a hundred times.
“Toddlers’ whole lives are about curiosity,” Heimann says.
But the way you grew up affects how your curiosity develops. Your motivation depends on the stimuli you receive, the experiences you have, how your family and school work with you, how you are encouraged to try new things, and how your mistakes are treated. Developmental psychology studies all the factors that affect children’s learning.
“The most important element is warm, close, supportive relationships
that allow the child to develop their own personality in interaction with others and their surroundings, and to explore the world safely. Being curious about one another is also a key ingredient in interpersonal relationships. For young children, a secure relationship with their parents is essential; insecure children experience worry and anxiety, which stifles their curiosity,” Heimann says.
A three-year-old asks an average of 300 questions every day. But as we get older, that curiosity fades.
“It fades because we are socially stunted, to put it bluntly,” Heimann says.
“We in the Nordic countries still have a bit of ‘the law of Jante ,’ which makes us self-critical and afraid to ask questions for fear we’ll seem stupid. But there are no stupid questions—in research we have to dare to keep asking new questions all the time in order to move forward. Shame is the worst enemy of curiosity.”
At school and in the workplace, others often tell us what we should be interested in, in a sort of externally imposed curiosity.
“Sometimes it coincides with our own interests, but not always. If we only studied things that motivate us, then perhaps we’d only learn half of our subjects in school,” Heimann points out.
But forced curiosity also drives development. As an example, Heimann
points to how the climate crisis is forcing us to think along new lines. The aviation industry, for instance, is looking at how we can reduce the environmental impact of flying. New times mean new challenges, which raise new questions. And never before in history have there been such great opportunities to get answers to our questions, with technologies like the internet and Google at our fingertips.
“Without curiosity, we would grind to a halt,” Heimann concludes.
