Part 01 - Curiosity: Nature v. Nurture

“Your curiosity is your growth point. Always.” -Danielle LaPorte

Curiosity: Nature or Nurture?

I’m married to a beautiful woman who majored in Psychology and in every discussion we have about Nature v. Nurture, her conclusion is the same: “It’s both.” Fair enough. Conversation over.

And yet… I still wonder about human instincts and our behaviors. What would be different about me if I (still genetic me… son of Scott & Debbie) grew up just one street over? Would I dress differently? Listen to different music? Play different sports?

I believe so. I think it’s at least plausible, right? At least for the obvious ones: dress, behavior, interests. My eye color would not change, nor would the color of my skin. Maybe, based on the discussions about healthy eating my parents had with their different neighbors, my height and weight would change. Again, plausible.

But what about intelligence? Would I be smarter? Could I be smarter? I believe so. I believe we have a ceiling on our intellectual ability, but that ceiling is much taller than we tell ourselves. And if the ceiling is low, that is because we have created a low ceiling. Somewhere on that self-made ceiling is a door. And that door can be opened.

Maybe for some of us that door has a few locks. Maybe for others that door is welded shut, rusty, and has a mean hornets’ nest next to it. But that door can open. It is plausible that the door can be opened.

The key to this door is curiosity.

Curiosity, for some, is natural (nature). Some of us are genetically curious. Early humans who were too curious may have found themselves literally trying to see what’s inside of a lion’s mouth and therefore didn’t pass on their genes, but a “safe” curiosity has been passed on (the early human took notes on the lion’s mouth from a distance, perhaps). This is why humans explore, whether into the West or to the Moon.

Consider children and a question they’re always asking… “why?” Maybe we’re all naturally curious and society reduces it to apathy? But some of us are more naturally curious than others. Curiosity is not necessarily a trait we need in order to survive and reproduce, therefore those who are not as curious pass on those genes.

Those who may not be as naturally curious and have not been reduced to apathy can be “turned on” to curiosity (nurture). They may have had parents or mentors who encouraged them to look under rocks to find bugs, or parents who took them out to the museum, or laid out in a field under the stars. Or teachers! I would bet a 2 dollar bill that everyone who is interested in learning had a teacher who influenced them positively. For these people, curiosity has been “turned on.” They are the ones who have not been reduced to apathy. They have been encouraged to wonder.

And for the rest… they don’t wonder. Maybe because they haven’t been taught how. Or they simply don’t care. I find the latter to be intriguing… but that is for later.

We can choose to be curious and that curiosity is the key to intelligence and a better life.