Curiosity is that strange human trait that got us out of the cave, across the globe, and onto the moon. A trait that has led to communication and collaboration.
It is why children ask: ” why?”
And as we get older and life becomes more complicated, many of us forget to keep asking that question.
” Why?” requires work and critical thought. It requires the openness to learning answers that don’t fit into our existing world views. The brain is hardwired to be lazy. So default meets comfort zone where there is no room for ” why?”.
And sure, if we need to ask ” why?” every time we get a push notification on our phones, it will mercilessly take over our lives.
But ” why?” is also the most significant tool in combatting disinformation. And decoding the true intention of certain governments, organisations, brands.
Curiosity might help us better understand the others.
Their intentions.
Their feelings and fears.
Curiosity might help us understand ourselves.
Our intentions.
Our feelings and fears.
Certain meditation techniques encourage us to approach our emotions with curiosity. We cannot control when and how those emotions arise within us, but we can control how we react to them.
The ancient principle of Occam’s razor invites us to – when presented with competing hypothesis about the same problem– select the one that requires the fewest possible assumptions.
This might benefit us in our external and internal lives. The truth is we need to cultivate curiosity.
Curiosity will help us disregard ‘ human pollutants ‘ like opinion, agenda, power and greed. These pollutants are present at nearly every turn of capitalist transactions, sticking to us like grease from an oil spill.
We need more stories of compassion , and fewer stories of conflict. What’s extraordinary about our story is that it is never complete. It is never finished. It is being written and rewritten every moment in every corner of the world.
For example, it is up to us to confine conflict to our books and films. Because for THE GREAT STORY to succeed, we need to course-correct away from conflict toward compassion and cooperation.
We need to start shaping new stories for ourselves and future generations. And that narrative, in its most basic and simple form might be this..
Human(therefore)kind.
It seems pretty simple: We have to accept our insignificance. Which is significant.
Disinformation has always been part of the political and corporate playbook. However, algorithms, feedback loops, and political polarization have dusted off that book and put it on the main display next to the gummy bears and ChapStick.
This is complex stuff, and only a few people in the world seem to truly comprehend the scientific underpinnings of the madness we’ve left ourselves be swallowed up in.
If the medium is the message and the medium is a giant tangled ball of fiber-optic cables, doesn’t that make the message, well, a giant tangled mess of messaging?
Now, ” why?” did I write this? Curiosity is getting the better of me. And I like it.
BEGINS
