2024-02-07 by Shakunthala Natarajan
Why Are We Curious? | Science Blog
It is your birthday again! Your parents have promised to give you a lovely surprise this time. The suspense element behind the surprise makes you too curious. You have so many questions buzzing in your head about your birthday gift. As you drift in your curiosity trail, you start wondering, ‘Why do we ask so many questions?’ and ‘Why are we curious in nature?’. Our explorer’s team composed of Avishkaa, Tanvi along with Utsuka and Jigyasa, too are bugged by the same question. Let us embark along with our enthusiastic exploration team, into the world of curiosity and get to know why we ask questions.
Before understanding why we are curious, let us try to understand what is meant by ‘curiosity’. Whenever we encounter some aspect we have no idea about, we experience this urge to fill our knowledge gap. For instance, let us imagine that you are chatting with your friends during your lunch break. They are discussing the Chandrayaan-3 mission’s success. But you have not been following up on related news and feel left out. There is a strong urge in you to read about this space mission so that you can stay informed. This inner push or urge to broaden the knowledge horizon is called curiosity.
Do you know that there are different types of curiosity? Yes. Let’s uncover them here. Let us travel to one of those leisurely after-school TV sessions. There is a nail-biting documentary on tigers that’s being aired on your favourite channel. You see the majestic animal emerge from behind a bunch of trees with its royal gait. But your mind races past and starts wondering, how many tigers would be present there, what kind of trees there are, what will the tiger do next and so on. In short, you try to ask questions to understand or perceive your surroundings and situation in a much better way. This type of curiosity consisting of immediate information-seeking questions is called ‘perceptual curiosity’ and our senses help in this information-seeking. How does perceptual curiosity help us? Well, perceptual curiosity helps us gather information needed for survival. You will be surprised to know that, we get a feeling of fulfilment when our perceptual curiosity is satisfied, and this feeling is close to how contented we feel after our hunger is satiated. Do you want to know why? The perceptual curiosity and hunger satisfaction signals activate similar regions in our brain leading to very similar outcomes!
Moving on, let us look at one more kind of curiosity. Have you ever found yourself asking questions like ‘Why do we dream’, and ‘Why do flowers bloom’? These questions are more abstract and do not relate to your immediate survival. This kind of curiosity is called ‘epistemic curiosity’. But then why should we end up asking such questions? You know what? Human brains are large when compared to other animals. This means our thinking capacity is also greater. Imagine our brain to be a large state that is divided into small cities which are distinct brain regions. These regions (so-called cities in our analogy) are connected via flexible bridges called neuronal connections. We can connect and correlate many topics through this sophisticated neuronal system in our brains. When we obtain answers to our abstract questions, we feel very happy and satisfied. This is akin to having a dopamine rush and getting a burst of happiness while eating chocolates. So we have found a way to be happy without getting a sweet tooth!
Our explorers are mesmerized by the aspect of curiosity and are in awe of human nature to ask questions. But they still want to know what is the need to close our knowledge gaps and stay curious given the saying that ‘ignorance is bliss’. To know more they contact Dr Jaison Manjaly, a curiosity scientist from IIT Gandhinagar. Dr Manjaly says closing knowledge gaps is a part of evolution. If we cannot fully understand our surroundings, we wouldn’t be able to handle challenges that impede our survival. To put it short, evolution has favoured curiosity because it is less costly in comparison to experienced knowledge. That is, it is less taxing to understand something better and then handle it, rather than handling a thing, getting hurt and then learning. Moreover, Dr Manjaly also explains that different animals have different levels of curiosity. Depending on their habitat and the degree of complexity that their brain can handle, every animal gets its dose of curiosity!
We have come to the end of our journey into the world of curiosity and unending questions. I bet your curiosity must have been kindled through this journey. To learn more, join our explorers directly in this podcast of IndiaAsksWhy. It is time to gear up your headphones and tune in with our team with loads of curiosity and an unending thirst to learn! Let us stay hungry and curious:)
References
- 2002 : What is your question? ... why? (1970) Edge.org. Available at: https://www.edge.org/response-detail/11928 (Accessed: 04 January 2024).
- Kwood@abcpediatrictherapy.com (2019) Why is asking and answering questions important?, ABC Pediatric Therapy. Available at: https://www.abcpediatrictherapy.com/why-is-asking-and-answering-questions-important/ (Accessed: 03 January 2024).
- Neirotti, R.A. (2021) ‘The importance of asking questions and doing things for a reason’, Brazilian Journal of Cardiovascular Surgery, 36(1). doi:10.21470/1678-9741-2021-0950.
- Why do kids ask so many questions? Curious World Blog. Available at: https://www.curiousworld.com/blog/why-do-kids-ask-so-many-questions (Accessed: 04 January 2024).
