On Curiosity
I’ve heard many times that ‘curiosity killed the cat’ and I think to myself why this is so. Is it wrong to be curious? On second thought, maybe I should ask myself about the context in which curiosity has a negative connotation or the things I should actually be curious about. I do not know where this saying comes from but despite its negative message, to me curiosity may be a very significant factor for motivation and interest.
I, for instance, always try to focus on my personal issues: my dreams and hopes; my virtues and vices; my achievements and failure. I know that sometimes not all the questions get an answer. In other cases, the answers we are given or find out do not satisfy me, I still enjoy looking for them. I think that humans as rational beings are blessed with curiosity. The who's, what's, where's and the why's are forever present. Since we begin to talk as children, they never leave us anymore. No matter the age, profession, nationality or race, people always inquire because they want to know. Of course, I'm no exception. Hundreds of times I face situations in which I need a reason, an explanation, or a word that calms my urge to know because it seems that if I don't know why certain things happen in the world, I'll become doomed. But once I get the answer, I relax, I understand better. We notice that throughout our day to day activities, we are constantly interacting with the "what" of life. However, we rarely pause to consider why we are acting the way we do. So I definitely believe that curiosity is fascinating by what we don't know, and it is healthy and natural to get to know things and understand them.
So why should curiosity have the power of killing an innocent pet? Maybe the problem arises when people focus on another people's affairs. There are people who use their curiosity for gossiping, in which case, I understand why the cat might be killed. Being curious about other people's lives doesn't contribute to ours. ‘What does that person do? Who are they dating? Why are they wearing those clothes? These are some examples of people’s inquisitive questions. Indeed, some of these situations do not need to be answered or explained since by acting this way, we may be invading people’s privacy. Not to mention when people checkout other people’s belongings without permission. Personally, I’ve never got myself to look at anyone’s private things without permission. In the first place, because I do not want to be like the “cat” and get struck by some unexpected news, and second because I don’t want to have the same done to me by others. Our curiosity should be controlled, and we must be careful what things we pay attention to. It's not right nor healthy to cross the line and invade people's privacy. Otherwise, we might get disappointed about sometimes we have not known so far and particularly about what people are not interested in sharing.
Not knowing things is crucial stimulus for curiosity. It motives us to get to know about our life and find answers. It also powerful and desirable force as long as we keep in mind the limits between healthy curiosity and unnecessary curiosity; between satisfaction and rewards, and the danger of self-harm and trouble.