Found myself challenged by my own writing asserting a lapse in human curiosity in our times, but then found myself thinking that curiosity is driven by want. Curiosity is about that urge to know that can push into unknown territory where there can be danger.
The less we have an urge to pursue mystery maybe is a hallmark of a species where for many their success or failure with their society is with known paths.
The web of course has disrupted much, and maybe highlights what happens for some humans when that certain knowledge no longer applies for their current reality.
Is curiosity that can push you to go into that dark room where monsters may lurk.
The truths that are available for the discoverers will then be about that quest, where the outcome is not certain.
So I feel like my assessment is correct: modern humans tend to be less curious than our predecessors.
Possibly is simply an assessment of the power of modern civilization which have cheered much as talk about science and its predictive certainty.
We are less likely to believe that an answer lies behind a hidden door than in figuring out what modern tools or behaviors are needed. Which more than likely is the correct position! The success of many cultures with modern science and technology is daily demonstrated.
And for me is a comfort, as well as the means for communications like this one.
Then the dwindling of human curiosity is less of a concern, but is worth noting, for those who DO live different. Some of us are still the discoverers, who brave the unknown, and can wonder why.
Why do we seek truth? Maybe that is a mystery I will not resolve completely, but then again, to me, that reads like a challenge.
James Harris
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