Belief Systems and Curiosity

Note: This topic was mentioned during the call but not discussed in depth.

Alex Kladitis brought a challenging perspective: our belief systems actively prevent curiosity, even among people who consider themselves highly curious.

Alex's Core Argument

"It's inherent in us. We want to feel good. So it depends on the topic. So if it's politics, and we're on the left or the right, we don't want to challenge our mental model and belief system. So that's one of the obstacles to being curious."

The Universal Challenge

Alex provocatively claimed:

"I can go through the recordings, and I can find every single... at least one example where each one of you has made a statement, and I'm thinking, But why don't you look at it from this point of view?"

This suggested even a group explicitly discussing curiosity demonstrates incuriosity when beliefs are challenged.

Compartmentalization

Alex highlighted how we separate contradictory information:

"We'll go to page one, and we'll read about some politician announcing a new this, that, and the other. And say how great the politician is, if we support them. And then we'll go to page 5 of a newspaper. And there's an article of what shysters the politicians are. And we can compartmentalize the two and not cross-feed."

"If he's the shyster over there, if that part is lying over there, what tells you that they tell the truth here?"

Personal Relationships

Alex described conversations with his children:

"I enjoy talking, discussing things with them. If there's no belief system involved, be it politics, religion, whatever it is, we have a great conversation. But as soon as we start discussing things we care about... their reluctance to even hear or question what their belief system... something that might challenge their belief system."

The painful irony: The things we care most about become the things we're least curious about.

Connection to Self-Preservation

Jerry Michalski connected this to identity:

"There's a piece of what I think you're raising, Alex, which is about our identity and our self-image. And the preservation of self."

When beliefs are tied to identity, questioning them feels like self-destruction.

The Openness Connection

This relates to Scott Moehring's point about Big Five Personality Traits:

Sometimes we need to not be open, to preserve:

Identity
Community belonging
Psychological safety
Core values

Victoria's Counter-Example

Victoria (Spain) shared:

"I changed my vote in Spain last elections despite my initial 'beliefs', and I ended voting a party I didn't think I would vote (not the ultra-right)"

This demonstrated it's possible to overcome belief-based incuriosity, but notable enough to mention suggests it's rare.

Implications

If belief systems block curiosity about our most important topics:

How do we have productive discourse?
Can we cultivate curiosity specifically in charged domains?
Is Multi-Perspectival Humbleness a practice that helps?
What role does Fear and Self-Preservation play?

Connection to Polarization

Alex wanted to discuss:

"The curiosity in the sense that we're so polarized that each side, or whoever it is..."

Belief-driven incuriosity may be a root cause of polarization, creating Echo Chambers where we only engage with confirming information.

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