Lessons from My Best Interview on "Rethinking Curiosity"
Lessons from My Best Interview on "Rethinking Curiosity"
With advice for young adults, motivational shifts in later life, and adversarial collaborations
I want you to think about the idea of curiosity as a form of persuasion… You don’t have to get someone to change their position… What you want to see is: can you get someone to move 5 to 10 degrees in their position… And one way of doing that is by leading, not necessarily with your knowledge, but with the things that intrigue you, [that] maybe we know less than we think we do.
I.
Above is an excerpt from the award winning podcast, Choose to Be Curious. When Lynn Borton invited me to be her guest for the 250th episode, I couldn't type YES fast enough. In just 28 minutes, you'll understand why Lynn is a phenomenal interviewer. Don't miss the finale, where she challenges me to create a new curiosity analogy using only the word "salamander."
Do capture 12 minutes of bonus content as the two of us babble into overtime. I raise some critical issues about conventional thinking on curiosity.
One of the tropes that shows up in curiosity is the idea that preschoolers ask thousands of questions per day … and then it drops to almost nothing. The research doesn’t bear this out.
The research continues to evolve, let’s have strong views but hold them loosely.
II.
For those who attended our last Provoked Community call, that was a mental feast, sparking great conversations such as:
What advice would you give to someone in their 20’s and 30’s based on wisdom from psychological science? This led to a conversation on switching from maximizing to satisficing as we age. Here’s a follow-up article:
A great conversation about varieties of regret and the absurd adage by skateboarding companies in the 1980’s.
Plus a follow-up article:
Notably, this article reflects an “adversarial collaboration.” A topic raised by
here:Fun Fact: the lead author, Dr. Thomas Gilovich, was my first psychology instructor in college. His teaching ignited something that didn’t fully take hold for a few more years. Another reason to dabble + play more.
Links between physical balance and anxiety difficulties.
A discussion on the “5 second rule” and Buddhism
How to age well when people live far longer than evolution intended
Become a premium member of the Provoked Community to attend these monthly virtual meetings. Do check out the video and transcript of the call below. Also, you will find a poll below to set the time slot for the next event - making sure Provoked members from other regions of the world can attend.
Unfiltered conversation below: