It seems the topic aroused a lot of interest.
OK, let's go deeper, then
Leave aside your intellectual curiosity for a field you are already eager to investigate.
Do you think you nurture intellectual curiosity per se?
IF something unexpected crosses your path (a 'recommendation' in the right-side list of youtube videos) that opens the window on something complex -- not just the top 10 most obnoxious movie actors -- do you feel the thrill, a light zap in your brain, do your eyes light up? And, immediately after, the disappointment for 1) knowing nothing about it, 2) the resignation you will never know anything about it, 3) the resignation that there are only 24 hours in a day and 1 billion heart beats in your life.
You are probably aware of the metaphor "trying to drink water from a fire hose." Does it HONESTLY feel that way, or do you hardly get close enough to see that there is a fire hose open full blast?
COMMENTS AND REPLIES. I would recommend looking for the comment that is receiving the most replies and adding to it. This way, your collective thoughts will be concentrated rather than dispersed.
I wouldn't say I nurture my curiousity but I just click on something that looks interesting. The picture of the video attracts my curiousity.
ReplyDeletePeiling,
DeleteI think you are not giving yourself enough credit. People are on their phones all day now, and if you have a phone or computer, most likely you are nurturing your curiosity. Especially if you are young. Fashion, future jobs, etc., and every time you download an app.
I agree that peoples lives are highly influenced with technology.
DeleteI would say we nurture our intellectual curiosities. I believe we all have natural tendencies and curiosities of specific topics. My brother, for example, always had a natural disposition to sciences and now studies science as a profession. Where I always preferred humanities and now am pursuing it as my profession. We have a natural inclination to engage our interest areas and as a result nurture this curiosity. We try to absorb and learn as much as we can about our interested topics. If something unexpected comes to you and it is in your interests then you will indefinitely be excited and thrilled about it. If a video link of a film about the life spans of stars came onto my news feed I would maybe watch it but would have no feelings towards it whereas my brother would be so happy to watch it and would share it with his friends who also share this intellectual interest.
ReplyDeleteI nurture intellectual curiosity. That is why I do what I do. Many times it is called “the teachable moment”. A student asks a question based on what we were talking about (or not talking about). I love when the student lights up an says they “get it”. It is my job during the day, but after school I also encourage the students to pursue avenues that they are interested. The students are poor, English language learners, and also have been diagnosed with a disability. We use technology to further their pursuits. The curiosity I have is my students. I read about class management, teaching English language learners, etc. I go to professional development for areas which I am interested. I think the drinking from a fire hose would be for young individual who want to know what/who they will be. I know who I am.
ReplyDeleteKatherine, this is a great example of intellectual curiosity in action. Learning about ways to transform your class, studying yourself and the environment you create and making adjustments for the best learning experience, and your working on your own personal development are excellent demonstrations of intellectual curiosity at work.
DeleteI wish that I could meet all you. This has become a fascinating ecosystem that we have created and swim around in and its not even in reality! I admire your histories and love learning of your pursuits. And though it makes a part of me jealous that some may know who they are, I can take this as inspiration that I, too, may find a new self.
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DeleteKathryn, I think to find one's self and to know who one is, carries different meanings for everyone. I do not think it is something we find overnight or over time; I believe as we grow we experience and discover different parts of our ever changing selves.
DeleteKatherine, I sincerely think that what you are doing is fascinating. It is really amazing to see people actually acquiring knowledge, making it their own. Learning to make people learn better is a great way to satisfy intellectual curiosity and help student do so as well.
DeleteI think it’s great that you encourage your students to go out and learn. A memorable teacher can really inspire a child.
DeleteI spent the majority of my professional life learning by doing- in person, on my feet, not sitting in a class or reading materials. I always said that I went to the School of Life. I hadn’t really engaged my intellectual curiosity until relatively recently. And now I am attempting to tackle the immense power of the fire hose. I feel an expertise in my field of theatre, but the realization that it won’t necessarily make me enough money on which to survive and support a family, accompanied by it’s hedonistic tendencies, has completely blown open my need and desire to transfer my obsessive detail oriented nature onto new paths- ones whose flowers will lead to literal and figurative growth.
ReplyDeleteI do feel the thrill to come upon certain material that does genuinely interest me, such as topics regarding financial issues (i.e financial crashes). However it does not disappoint me that I will never know all the facts involved with the matter. Rather I focus on the core issues and try to understand how certain events came to be. Materiality is more of my preference.
ReplyDeleteOn the topic of interesting financial crashes, I hope you've seen The Big Short. Great movie on the 2008 financial crash resulting in the recession.
DeleteI think we all nurture our intellectual curiosity in a certain way. I personally have intellectual curiosity in my area of interest. I believe curiosity shapes our interest. Isn't it fascinating that as a child, we always curious about things around us? Thanks to technology, information is made available just in few clicks. However, there is information that I cross daily that does not trigger the desire to further investigations unless the information is benefits to me.
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ReplyDeleteI do nurture my intellectual curiosity, sometimes without noticing that I am doing so. For example, I was perusing Netflix over the weekend for something "fun" to watch, and it suggested the docuseries, Roman Empire. I was excited (the light zap in the brain) when it suggested it since the reason I am taking this class is in part to learn about the Roman Empire. I was not disappointed. It is a very informative series and suggests everyone watch it since it breaks down what we are learning in this class.
ReplyDeleteI hope, that I nurture my intellectual curiosity. I am trying to pursue my existing interest as well as trying to find something I never heard about. Recently I started getting into Data Science and Statistics. I find both fascinating topics, but it scares me, that people who can be called experts in that field mostly have their PHDs and are extremely knowledgeable. Sometimes it makes me feel, like I can never be on their level. I hope as I progress, I would feel more confident and satisfying my intellectual curiosity would become rewarding again.
ReplyDeleteI am not quite sure if I nurture my intellectual curiosity or not. What I think is that we are born with intellectual curiosity and it is along with us for the life time. For example, today when I walk on the street, I found a new open bubble tea shop and I had a try. I think it is a kind of intellectual curiosity when I tried to taste the new thing I never had before.
ReplyDeleteYes, I think it is important to learn more about the history of the world that I live in, it is very important to become more knowledgeable with what is going on in far away places because even if it doesn’t seem like it effects the world I live in, it ultimately does. For me to be a better human being it is important for me to become cultured about how us human beings have evolved. New information allows me to process my outlooks on the world in a new light. Every day it is important for us to learn new things in order to move forward, make sure history doesn’t repeat itself, and gain inspiration for the future.
ReplyDeleteI think I often nurture my intellectual curiosity. To use your example of recommended YouTube videos, I love finding random educational videos. Just today, I found a video by Vox about the border between Hong Kong and China. All I know about Hong Kong is that it's a democracy seperated from China. I learned a lot about the legalities of the situation and the opinions of the people in Hong Konig that fascinated me. I then went and read the wikipedia page about the political unrest in 2014 caused by the Umbrella Movement.
ReplyDeleteI never get overwhelmed by not being able to learn everything about a subject. I just read what I can on the subject and that's it. I see it as not turning the fire hose all the way and just leaving it on enough so I can have a glass of water whenever I want it.
Yes, I do think I nurture intellectual curiosity. If I come across something interesting I do get excited and itch to learn about it. I do not necessarily get upset for not knowing/will never know anything about it. I enjoy exploring/learning about new things, even if the information I learned won’t benefit me later in life or I won’t be able to fully get a grasp on it. Although I enjoy learning sometimes it does feel like drinking water from a firehose because of how much information there truly is on each individual subject, and I feel as if it can be very overwhelming without solid platform of knowledge to build from.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny how the curiosity of clicking Youtube videos is mentioned because that's exactly what happens: I'm concentrated in homework and suddenly see a Top 10 Star Wars moment. I end up clicking it and losing myself until 12 AM watching more. Sometimes, I hate because most of those videos are stupid things I really don't need to know. Overall, I could've learned about something important instead.
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