Curiosity

Curiosity is a character trait more than a virtue, by itself. Curiosity is the inclination to be interested in new ideas and facts, and the inclination to initiate the activities to find more of them. Like all character traits, however, this can be learned as a habit and will eventually become a part of who you are. Take kindness as a similar example. If you earnestly try hard to be kinder to those around you every day, you will eventually become a kinder person. Curiosity can work in the same way.

Curiosity is important to our values, however, because this trait is very valuable in becoming a wise and knowledgeable person. Even if you take classes or read books in order to learn more, you will fall short on your goals if you don't have the curiosity to motivate you; curiosity is a trait that will help you do well in classes and finish your pet projects. If you are planning to only learn new things that are immediately applicable to you or your job, you are just shooting yourself in the foot. You have to work on being open to learning in general.

The easiest way to improve your curiosity is to build upon the curiosity you already have. Sometimes we hear a news blurb, some curious fact, or learn about a new hobby, and then immediately return to our daily routine—even if the idea tickled our curiosity. This could sometimes be laziness, "work ethic", or just the way we are used to living our lives, but you need to begin taking those opportunities to learn more about the world around you. If you hear in passing about a lizard that can run across water, for instance, and the idea puzzles or amuses you, you should find out more about that lizard. If you can't do it right away, write down a note to remind yourself later; with the internet and Google, you have no excuse to not learn a little about anything that grabs your interest. In this example, you don't have go to college and become a herpetologist, but you should read a little bit about the critter that captured your imagination.

Another way to improve your curiosity is to open yourself to new areas of knowledge. Read websites or magazines about topics that you usually wouldn't read about. Find out exactly what the story is behind your child's collectable figurines. Read one of those weird romance novels that your wife likes to read. These are all examples of ways to build curiosity toward new ideas.