Greetings and welcome back to Wednesday Words, readers! Today, I’m curious about what you think about curiosity and intelligence. There’s the old joke that goes like this: Someone asks Ghandi what he thinks about Western Civilization. He says, “I think it would be a good idea.”
What do I think about being curious? Yeah, I know it killed the cat, and I know it can lead you down a rabbit hole if you keep asking question after question, and I realize it can get you involved too much in other people’s business (which may not be good for your mental health, so please keep some boundaries), but as kids we start out asking “Why?” a lot, and wondering how things work, and asking bunches of questions. That’s how we learn. So in general I think it’s a good quality. It shows we’re thinking, we’re using—as my mother used to say—the mind God gave you.
A sign of intelligence: curiosity
The idea of curiosity as a sign of intelligence recently captivated me when I read an article by Oliver Jeffers about climate change, AI, and guess what? Curiosity.
In his article, Jeffers wrote, “My father, a lifelong educator, always noted that true intelligence is the presence of curiosity. Remembering a lot of facts simply proves good memory, rather than intelligence.” ~ for the whole article, click here ⇒ Illustrator Oliver Jeffers Reflects on 2024 – The New York Times
After reading that, I went hunting for definitions for intelligence and curiosity from Merriam-Webster:
Intelligence – a definition
Curiosity – a definition
a: inquisitive interest in others’ concerns: nosiness
b: interest leading to inquiry
Da Vinci the Curious
One exceptionally curious person I admire lived long ago: Leonardo da Vinci. Have you seen the special PBS series Ken Burns produced about Leonardo? If you get a chance, check it out.
Thanks for reading!
Best wishes from your writer on the wing,
Charlene
John Arnett
Zorba: Boss, You think too much. Clever people and grocers…They weigh everything.
Zorba: Why do the young die? Why does anyone die? What’s the use of all your damn books? If they don’t tell you that, what the hell do they tell you?
Boss: They tell me about the agony of people who can’t answer questions like yours.
Zorba: I spit on your agony
John Arnett
The 2×2 groups (one of which I was a member once) have preachers (men and women) called workers who have no seminary training and spend most of their life preaching in rented tents and halls (of course, there are some who are guilty of sex abuse, but a minority). One of their favorite texts (from their inerrant KJ Bible) is Acts 4:13 “…when they saw boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men,…they took knowledge of them. that they had been with Jesus.”
Candy Dawson
As I age I am becoming (a la Alice) curious and curiouser. I think that’s a good thing and shout out to AI for turning my senior moments into Google Moments. Here is an example—I looked up the lyrics to Grace Slick’s song White Rabbit and also learned that she meant for the rabbit to connote curiosity.