Why curiosity is so important: My Email Exchange With Aaron Swartz Shows An Original Thinker

My Email Exchange With Aaron S...

Very cool interview with Aaron, especially I like the bit on curiosity:

When I was a kid, I thought a lot about what made me different from the other kids. I don't think I was smarter than them and I certainly wasn't more talented. And I definitely can't claim I was a harder worker -- I've never worked particularly hard, I've always just tried doing things I find fun. Instead, what I concluded was that I was more curious -- but not because I had been born that way. If you watch little kids, they are intensely curious, always exploring and trying to figure out how things work.

And now the kicker, and why it's my obligation as a parent to foster curiosity in my kids:

The problem is that school drives all that curiosity out. Instead of letting you explore things for yourself, it tells you that you have to read these particular books and answer these particular questions. And if you try to do something else instead, you'll get in trouble. Very few people's curiosity can survive that. But, due to some accident, mine did. I kept being curious and just followed my curiosity.

If you're a parent, take a note :-)

Via Gruber.

Posted on Wednesday, January 16, 2013