Curiosity is a prerequisite for every kind of education. Whether learning by doing, reading, hearing--a hunger must lie behind your seeking. Otherwise, we give up. We cast aside the struggle to understand with ease when the unknowns do not matter a whole lot to us. I am one to made an idol of curiosity. It is one of the aspects of who I am that I value with ease, one of the few that self-doubt has to work hard to make me anxious about.
Despite my staunch admiration for curiosity and wonder in the world, I am faced with all its counterparts. Eavesdropping, gossiping, and spying are all kinds of curiosity about others. It feels twisted to me, however, to give them the same credence and awe that I give the curiosity that a child feels when watching a caterpillar cocoon open.
Aristotle spoke of virtues being a mean between extremes. If curiosity is a virtue, what are the extremes that it lies between? I am not sure I have the perfect one word descriptions, but the mean seems to lie between believing you are meant to have access to all information and believing that seeking information has no value at all. We can become absorbed with knowing to the point of valuing it beyond the people who lives are part of that knowledge. Alternatively, we can be so indifferent to knowing the world that we do not believe anyone capable of knowing anything.
Either way, we seem to treat knowledge and the drive that spurs us to look for it often without thinking of knowledge as part of ethics. We think that facts are facts and have nothing to do with right or wrong. However, there is no going about procuring any information in this life without affect the rest of life on earth.
Do we become invested in knowing the lives of our friends through social media because we are concerned with the excellence of their lives and our ethical relationship in that process, or because we believe dogmatically that knowing is better than not knowing? We can choose to treat our knowledge of others as simply utilitarian power to make friends through the sharing of personal information. Many "friends" have been united by laughing over the personal problems of a shared enemy. But, it is difficult to use the knowledge of another person without inflicting harm.
Getting to know my friends is a great joy for me, only matched by my happiness at being known to them. I believe in the curiosity of our relationships, that we believe we can know each other within the willingness and ability we each have to share ourselves and receive the other. Curiosity only kills cats that forget the other felines.
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