Curious? Good for you! Why curiosity is good for us

Although curiosity has a bad reputation, it is good for us! Why? You can find out here. Plus tips to rediscover your curiosity.

Who doesn't know the playful curiosity of babies and children – and later in old age? Somehow we seem to lose curiosity. It is innate to us, but usually decreases over the years. She is also often perceived as a bad quality, which certainly helps that many do not pursue her curiosity. Because looking for the latest Gossip or peering into the neighbour's garden is not well received by most. Sure, who wants to be spied on ?! And yet social media in particular has a huge pull effect that we can hardly resist.

Curiosity: good or bad?

How many times has Insta & Co been checked today? How many times did I check the email inbox because a new message was displayed? Social media channels, advertising and emails are vying for our attention around the clock, targeting our curiosity with their red notifications and advertising promises – and quite successfully.

Why is it working so well? "The daily gathering of information serves to create security," Markus Gabriel, professor of philosophy at the University of Bonn, told Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin. Since we do not know the limits of the world, we definitely want to close these gaps with information or things, says Gabriel. And this is exactly what the philosopher sees as the danger of being overwhelmed, "the uninterrupted flood of information and our un-channeled curiosity, the constant fear of missing something." In addition, the brain releases reward substances when our curiosity is satisfied. A vicious circle! But we are missing this fear, also called FOMO (Fear of Missing Out), not delivered: Here you will find a good strategy to deal with FOMO properly.

In addition, curiosity is not always based on pure sensationalism. Curiosity is also known as a thirst for knowledge, the English-American psychologist William McDougall saw in her an instinct and that The core of our motivation. But how strong it is in us depends not only on genes, but also on education. So if you are often urged not to pursue your curiosity, you will continue to do so in the future and try to suppress any occurrence.

This instinct has already brought us many great scientific and cultural discoveries. It is not for nothing that curiosity is considered in the professional context Success trait: Questioning things and trying new things is part of progress. It also has other advantages, for example researchers assume that curious people stay mentally fitter and the risk of dementia also seems to decrease.

Curiosity should also:

  • … increase intelligence
  • … increase stamina
  • … increase our life satisfaction
  • … and let us live longer

Well, if that's not a good argument for more curiosity! The next tips will show you how to do this.

5 tips for more curiosity

to overcome fear

New situations and tasks can be very scary. If we shy away from it, we often realize afterwards that our fears were unfounded. If you find it difficult to do this, you can find tips here: Overcome fears. Try to take the new things as an opportunity and treat them with openness – bet it will be much easier?

To try something new

Always cook the same thing, book the same hotel on vacation and watch a thriller every Sunday – routines can give us security and certainly have their good sides. If you want to bring your curiosity back to life, you should try something new! How about a new dish, maybe a completely different national cuisine? Or a new hobby? And as the saying goes, the appetite comes when you eat …

By the way, learning new things is also an effective measure of how we can improve our memory!

Digital abstinence

Instead of watching others live on Instagram and friends, just do it yourself! You don't have to experience anything spectacular to arouse your curiosity. It doesn't matter whether you read a book from a completely different genre than usual, you keep a gratitude diary or a bullet journal yourself to find out more about your wishes and goals or just go for a walk and consciously perceive the environment.

ask questions

What questions have you always asked yourself? Write them down and try to find answers! No matter what it is, it seems to interest you and only that is important. There are no stupid questions …

Change of perspective

In discussions and conversations with others, it often helps to put yourself in the position of the other in order to better understand the interlocutor. Even so, a change of perspective in everyday life can be exciting and open up completely new possibilities and perspectives.