Why Curiosity is Foundational to Learning

There are many different things that a person may say when asked what sparks their intellectual curiosity. For some it may be along the basis of greed or want of knowledge. Others may just simply love to learn, and their pleasure from learning is what sparks their curiosity. Personally, the thing that sparks my curiosity is the feeling that I get after I have learned something new.

When in an intellectually stimulating environment, and when being fed new information I begin to feel a sense of fulfillment. I have never felt anything better than how it feels to be given more knowledge than what you had before. When given new information, I can’t help but feel more experienced and therefore more confident. With my added confidence I then feel it necessary to spout off the information that I was just fed, in turn drilling it farther into my head. By the time I have told everyone that I think might care about what I have to say, I have successfully forced myself to remember the new information.

The fulfillment that I now have due to the information I was given provides me with so much confidence that it even translates into subjects in school that are completely irrelevant. I have so much confidence in the things that I know, that I don’t dare doubt what I think is the answer. This leads me to have faith in what I know, and to not question the words that I put down on paper in class. The confidence that I get from what I learn also translates into the knowledge that I can use in other things that I am required to do in class. For example, with more information I am provided with more examples that I could potentially use in an essay that I may have to right in class. Or it may even provide me with just enough background knowledge to derive something from a situation that I could not have before.

The reason that learning gives me such fulfillment is the amount of ways that I could use the information that I am given. Although it may not be directly useful in something that I need for school, it may be something that I need in everyday life. A very basic example would be addition and subtraction. It is used everyday in math class, but it has also become extremely useful in everyday life. Think about it, how many times a day do you count down the hours before you can get out of work, or school?

How many times do you have to figure out how much something costs, and then give the cashier the right amount of money? Without a basis of even a little bit of math, many of the things that we do without even thinking would be impossible. With new information you may be able to make something easier or safer that you would not have thought about before. Not to mention, the more information you have, the more experience and confidence you will have when carrying out everyday tasks, or when giving someone advice.

Although it may seem like a strange spark for wanting to learn, the way you feel when you learn something could be motivation for many things. It may give you the motivation and confidence to tell someone that they are wrong, and you will be able to prove yourself. It could also provide you with tools that some other people may not have when writing an essay, or presenting an argument. The fulfillment that you can get out of learning something new is something that I always look forward to when the opportunity to learn presents itself.