We explain what curiosity is, why it is an advantage and at what stage of life it develops. Also, what are the types of curiosity.
What is curiosity?
Curiosity is an inquisitive feeling or inclination for knowledge, i.e. a genuine desire to find out something or to decipher something that is not obvious at first glance. Curiosity is an instinctive, natural behavior that human beings share with many animals, with the cat being the cultural embodiment (hence the proverb “curiosity killed the cat”).
Living beings interact in different ways with their environment, always based on the information they collect from it through their senses. This is why learning and research are behaviors often naturally rewarded in different species, since The individual who handles the more information about his environment, the better he can adapt to it and the greater dangers he can foresee. Thus, curiosity gives individuals an advantage in matters of survival.
In the case of human beings, curiosity It is typical of the childhood and youth stages, and gives way, in the case of adults, to the desire to know or the passion for knowledge, which is behind many explorers, researchers and innovators in different areas. In fact, the human brain is configured in such a way that in situations of curiosity an expectation of reward is generated, which subsequently activates the neurotransmitters dopamine, serotonin and some opioids.
The word “curiosity” comes from Latin curiousderived from the word healingtranslatable as “dedication” or “care.” By adding to this last term the Latin suffix of quantum -osuswe have that “curious” would be “one who has excessive thoroughness or care”, that is, one who has a great desire to find out something, to take precautions and to be aware of what is happening.
See also: Investigate
Types of curiosity
Psychology distinguishes two types of curiosity:
- abstract curiosity. That which combined with abstract thinking tends to the mental exploration of ideas, such as fantasy, lucubration and theorization, and which is therefore abstract but conscious. An example of this is the curiosity that scientists feel when faced with a natural event that intrigues them or that challenges what they have until then taken for granted.
- Morbid curiosity. That which is triggered by events that cause an impression (often macabre) on the individual, such as violent scenes, accidents, deaths and other events that are at the same time uncomfortable or painful. This type of curiosity is instinctive, not conscious, and manifests itself in a cathartic way, generating the “peeping tom effect.” For example, when faced with a traffic accident on a highway, all passing drivers tend to slow down to be able to look at what happened.
Continue with: Empirical knowledge
References
- “Curiosity” in Wikipedia.
- “Radication of the word Curiosity” in the Online Spanish Etymological Dictionary.
- “Curiosity” in the Language Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy.
