Curiosity - Think About It!

Have you have ever heard the old proverb “curiosity killed the cat”? In J.H. Bechtel’s (1902) edition of Proverbs: Maxims and Phrases this proverb was the only entry in the section on “Curiosity.” It isn’t surprising that curiosity was once considered an unnecessary attitude or trait in an educational system that promoted conformity over individuality. Do you think curiosity is more understood today that it was over 100 years ago? Do you think that curiosity is encouraged and nurtured in our schools? The answer may surprise you.

Curiosity - Meditation

The genius inside you is waking up! Your curiosity is aroused or you have awakened your curiosity. You have a question. You can’t ignore it. It won’t go away. Oh, it may take a nap, but you can depend upon that nagging question to re-surface at some point in the future. Embrace your curiosity because it means that inner genius needs nurturing.

Curiosity - Microlecture

Something deep inside every person aches to be realized. People have known about it since the beginning of time. Yet, it seems, we struggle to understand it.

Albert Einstein
Sitting Bull
Paolo Freire
Lao Tzu
Juana Inés de la Cruz
Leonardo da Vinci
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Nikola Tesla
Gerty Cori
Voltaire

Curiosity and passion have been the universal forces driving the most influential men and women throughout history. Interestingly, there are no courses or programs which serve to inspire, incite and guide learners through the process of identifying curiosity and mastering the strategies to satisfy our desire to know more.

Curiosity

You know deep down that you have what it takes to succeed in the workplace, at school, at home and in your community. You know it's true even if nobody else seems to know or care. For too long, educators and psychologists have hailed the value of the intelligence quotient (IQ). Did you know that it was Alfred Binet, a French psychologist, who created the first IQ test in 1916? This means that the greatest minds, before the 20th century, were never formally assessed. Yet a group of psychologists and educators created a test to measure things like attention, memory and problem-solving skills to identify greatness or at least genius. Of course, the beauty of this test was NOT in the questions or tasks, but in the fact that it was given to millions of individuals and the results used to create a normal pattern.

The IQ is in reality a test that measures how any single individual performs in comparison to a larger sample size (representative of the total population). This doesn't mean that it was universally accepted. From the beginning and over the years, criticism has focused on the lack of true diversity of the sample used to create "norms." Then there is the claim that IQ tests claim are a reliable predictor of future performance or academic success. Today, a form of testing is even used by employers to predict how well potential employees will perform.

If the IQ score were easily determined and fixed over a lifetime, it would be an acceptable indicator worthy of being measured. Not everyone agrees. Much research has shown that IQ tends to change and fluctuate as a response to learning and multiple environmental factors. Sometimes the score can fluctuate by as much as 15 points. These fluctuations can be enough to suggest mild-retardation or genius. In my experience, there is one human quality more worthy of consideration as an indicator of potential academic and occupational success - curiosity.

I remember learning about the formula CQ+PQ > IQ from Thomas Friedman. In brief, the formula states that the sum of the Curiosity Quotient and Passion Quotient are greater than the value of the Intelligence Quotient. Let me state it more plainly, Curiosity and Passion are more a predictor of success than Intelligence! This idea has not been researched or formally debated in the hallowed halls of academia. However, some of the greatest minds of all time have remarked about the importance of curiosity and passion over intellect.

Christopher Columbus, Galileo Galilei, Isaac Newton, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Rene Descartes, Louis Pasteur, Abraham Lincoln, Voltair, Walt Disney, Eleanor Roosevelt, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Daniel Boone and Ai Weiwei are among the many who changed the world with their curiosity and passion. Most of these great thinkers even commented that their successes could be directly attributed to their curiosity.

So, when you start questioning whether or not you have "the right stuff" … just remember that inside you resides the qualities that make men and women great. Remember that curiosity and passion can be inspired, nurtured and cultivated. Ask questions. Seek answers. Aspire for something bigger than anything you have ever known. Awaken your genius within.

 

 

Welcome

Welcome to the blog for the One Minute Professor (David Penrose). After being featured in a 2009 Chronicle of Higher Education cover story, [ Shieh, D. These Lectures Are Gone in 60 Seconds. (55)26, A1, A13 ] there has continued to be a great deal of interest and attention paid to "microlectures." These 60 second presentations were originally called "knowledge bursts" or "kbursts" because they were designed to invoke curiosity.

As I am working on the final draft of my first book - "The Genius Within: Secrets for Acquiring Vast Knowledge" - this blog is being launched to showcase the various ideas, concepts, and stories that are found throughout the book. I hope that you will return regularly or subscribe to the blog feed to keep posted on our progress.

David