Education and Curiosity

A major thread in the conversation explored the complex, often antagonistic relationship between formal education and curiosity.

Einstein's Quote

Jerry Michalski shared:

"I think Einstein said: It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education."

This set the tone for examining how schools can kill or cultivate curiosity.

Evidence That Education Kills Curiosity

Cramming vs Learning

Jerry Michalski:

"I'm coming into this partly from having read a few too many stories about how incurious recent graduates seem to be when they come into work, which leads us into the education conversation. Is something happening to our kids who are busy cramming but not learning?"

"Have we stamped out, sort of, inquisitiveness in the schooling system?"

Fed Information, Not Challenged

Alex Kladitis:

"Young people, I think it's a teaching system... they're not... they're fed information. And I always used to think I was challenged at school to think differently."

Victoria's Son's Experience

Victoria (Spain):

"My son, age 30, has been telling me how uncurious and unengaged his university students are getting every year."

This suggests the pattern continues even into higher education.

Student Resistance to Meaningless Work

Victoria (Spain):

"Students can't be expected to put work on work they don't believe in. That's precisely what AIs are for."

Perhaps students are rationally uncurious about assignments they recognize as busywork.

How Some Education Cultivates Curiosity

Reflective Questioning

Judith Benham shared her mother's approach:

"As a child, whenever I asked a question, my mom would reply 'what do you think?', which led to expansive discussion."

This Socratic method builds metacognitive skills and sustains curiosity. Stacey Druss and Gil Friend had similar experiences.

Victoria (Spain) noted: "My son hated that approach at first 😂" - suggesting it may be uncomfortable but effective.

Writing as Thinking

LP1 (Louise) emphasized:

"Writing = thinking!"

Victoria (Spain) connected this to human evolution:

"Writing and drawing were the first externalizations of the brain humans practiced, and what enabled our intellectual evolution"

Jerry Michalski mentioned Victoria's father spending over a year writing a Wikipedia article on calculation rules - deep curiosity expressed through meticulous writing.

Training Curiosity

Gil Friend's story about training his junior engineer suggests curiosity can be taught:

"We had to kind of, you know, train him up in being curious, investigating."

The engineer lacked a "map of distinctions that leads somebody on a trail of investigation."

Cultural Differences in Education

LP1 (Louise) brought up the Lycée (French secondary education system), suggesting European approaches may differ from American ones.

LP1 (Louise):

"Absolutely, it's a very different world if you're a teenager today. I can't imagine what it is like for them."

The Future Question

Victoria (Spain) asked:

"Can you be curious when everyone says there is no future?"

This raises whether environmental crisis, economic uncertainty, and generational pessimism create conditions where curiosity feels pointless.

Historical Context

Technology Changing Essential Knowledge

Karl Hebenstreit Jr:

"My dad's physics professor in college: 'Buy a quality slide rule because you'll be using it the remainder of your career'"

Scott Moehring:

"Is it important to know how to change a flat tire, if you can get it done through other means? We might feel like that is ridiculous that they wouldn't know how to do that, but is it still 'essential knowledge' in a modern world?"

What schools should teach is constantly changing, which complicates how we cultivate curiosity.

TV and Passive Consumption

Alex Kladitis:

"Maybe it's the influence of TV, because it's an acceptance machine, and on TV, you don't actually challenge anything, you just watch and enjoy. You don't interact with it."

Pete Kaminski noted similar dynamics with:

"Living in an entertainment culture where you're supposed to sit back and consume, but not participate."

Teachers Who Didn't Kill Curiosity

Gil Friend:

"My teachers were unable to kill my curiosity ;-)"

This suggests some students' curiosity is resilient, possibly related to:

Big Five Personality Traits (high Openness)
Supportive home environments (like Judith's mother's approach)
Intrinsic motivation strong enough to survive poor teaching

The Question Formulation Technique

Victoria (Spain) introduced the Question Formulation Technique from the Right Question Institute:

"I discovered that some years ago and I ALWAYS recommend it. Is such a useful tool!"

This structured approach helps people who struggle with question formation - like Gabriele G who experienced "anxiety/poverty to ask question when you have complete freedom."

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