Alex Hull Professor Hennessy ENGL 101 18 October 2015 Curiosity in My Own Words Children are young, curious, and constantly asking “why”. Adults must remain curious to continue to learn. Sir Francis Bacon said that “knowledge is power”. If this quote is true, then the definition of curiosity would be the drive or want to constantly gain knowledge and understanding. This then will lead to a desire for a higher education. Higher education will be desired because a person would not be happy with the basics of just a high school diploma. Being curious, one would consistently strive to learn more. When one remains curious there will always be a desire for constant amounts of knowledge and the drive for higher education.
Being curious is the main driving principle is obtaining knowledge and higher education. It is said that as American on a daily basis we only spend 20 percent of our day doing something meaningful. That’s almost 5 hours a day to remain curious and learn. It can be something as simple as learning how the oven works while replacing the broken gas valve on the back. Curiosity is something that can be developed over time to create wonder. In 1996 a study was published in psychology and aging. 1000 adults between the ages of 68 and 86 were studied on their curiosity and their desire to learn. Results showed that after five years the adults who were curios to gain greater knowledge had a greater chance at still being alive at the end of the study. It is now thought that a decline in curiosity can now be used as an early warning sign for a neurological illness.
Knowledge is the key ingredient to intelligence and higher education. Curious people consistently gain more knowledge over someone who is just simply content on where they’re at. In 1999 a professor by the name of Sugata Mitra put a computer in a wall in New Delhi. This computer was
Alex Hull Professor Hennessy ENGL 101 18 October 2015 connected to high speed internet. He didn’t give any instructions on it, or how to operate it, but simply made it accessible to the children of New Delhi. This caused the children to be curious to learn how to operate it. By doing something so simple in today’s world he caused the children to gain the knowledge on computer systems through curiosity. Knowledge is something not everyone has a lot of, but everyone has the opportunity to gain a lot of.
Curiosity, knowledge, and motivation can and will lead to higher education. But what drives higher education? Curiosity does. Dr. M. David Perill a professor from Utah State University chooses to supply his classes with problems to solve. Essentially they teach their selves without realizing it. This all plays back to being a curious child. Some may choose to let children figure out how something works or what it is instead of simply explaining it. If that method is chosen children or students became curios on how something worked. They then gained the knowledge on it and led to being more educated.
Being curios is no longer something thought of when thinking of young children. It is now realized that curiosity is something humans will encounter their whole lives. Whether it be studying curiosity in the elderly to see how it may deal with aging, or college students to push them to teach themselves. Curiosity is a drive to knowledge and intelligence. Knowledge and intelligence are required to obtain higher education. In the last 100 years’ humans have come from riding a horse, public transportation, or walking everywhere to driving ourselves. Curiosity drives the world, without it
Alex Hull Professor Hennessy ENGL 101 18 October 2015 hunting and gathering would be the common way to get food. Education wouldn’t be as prominent as it is today.
Alex Hull Professor Hennessy ENGL 101 18 October 2015 Sir Francis Bacon, Religious Meditations, Of Heresies, 1597 English author, courtier, & philosopher (1561 – 1626) Kashda, Todd. “The Power of Curiosity.” Www.experiencelife.com. N.p., 2009. Web. 15 Oct. 2015. Frey, Thomas. “Curiosity-Driven Eduction.” Www.futuristspeaker.com. 27 Jan. 2011. Web. 15 Oct. 2015 Stachowiak, Bonni. “Cultivate Curiosity in Higher Ed Students.” Www.teachinginhighered.com. 4 Nov. 2014. Web. 18 Oct. 2015.