A while ago, while I was reading another book (Flourish by Martin Seligman), I took one of those online psychology tests. This one was called the Values in Action Signature Strengths test and its aim is to help you identify the things that motivate you, your passions and core values. The theory, in Positive Psychology, is that by finding ways to use your signature strengths regularly, and expanding your opportunities to use them, you will be more fulfilled in what you are doing (in work or life). It makes sense to me. If I’m not doing stuff that ticks some kind of internal boxes or allows me to use my unique skills then no wonder things don’t feel right. So, after answering about 50 questions, my top 5 signature strengths emerged as:
1. Love of learning
2. Appreciation of beauty and excellence
3. Curiosity/Interest in the world
4. Capacity to love and be loved
5. Leadership
Nothing earth-shatteringly surprising there. But seeing some of these aspects of myself, which I probably wouldn’t have put right at the top, has helped me to realise what it is that I do well and how I want to work in the future. My top 5 has become a bit of a guiding light while I plan and reflect.
So, I know you’ll understand why I recommend this book to you this month - Curious by Ian Leslie. As a curious person I couldn’t not read this book. And, luckily, it isn’t some massive scientific tome (I’m reading This is your Brain on Music by Daniel Levitin at the moment and the neuroscience in that is slowing me down quite a bit) it's an easily accessible trip into why curiosity is a fundamental human quality that we all share.
I believe that curiosity is one of the defining features of being human, along with language, an abstract sense of self/the mind, and the gift of opposable thumbs. The itch to know why things happen, to understand how stuff works, to see ‘what if’, leads us to remarkable discoveries – not just for society and the world – but for our own inner lives. It’s what drives us to create, to design, to imagine. It’s an amazing thing that seems to be overlooked by many people, devalued or regarded suspiciously. Even worse, it’s assumed that only some people have it.
In the book, Leslie shows us why this isn’t true. We are told about the different types of curiosity and how curiosity has developed through time. What becomes clear quite quickly is that although curiosity is something everyone is born with, it’s a skill that not everyone uses. It’s a bit like a muscle – it withers without regular exercise. And that’s bad news, not just for you and me personally but for the world we live in. So much of our world relies on new discoveries and people pushing ideas forward, challenging the status quo. Curiosity drives this.
On a smaller scale, at the human level, curiosity “makes the world more abundant with possibility and gleams of light more likely to illuminate the darkness. It opens the universe a little.” And this is certainly my experience. When I am feeling low, especially at times like this, in the short days of winter, the way I pull myself up and through is by remembering to look outwards and to become fascinated by something. The wonderful thing about curiosity is that you are allowed to be curious about anything at all - paperclips through the ages, the science of baking, the lifecycle of penguins – it doesn’t really matter. What matters is that you feed that curiosity. Because curiosity and creativity are two sides of the same coin. Neglect one and the other suffers. Luckily, the last section of the book - 7 Ways to Stay Curious – is full of handy tips and examples to help us find your way back to curiosity.
“The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.” Plutarch
Curious. The desire to know & why your future depends on it by Ian Leslie. Published by Quercus
Books to inspire: Curious
