On Curiosity. . .

I was reading a few lines written by Galen (130-200 AD). Galen was educated in Alexandria and became a physician to a school of gladiators in Asia Minor:

“I do not know how it happened, miraculously or by divine inspiration, or in a frenzy, or whatever else you may call it, but from my very youth, I despised the opinion of the multitude and longed for truth and knowledge, believing that there was for man no possession more noble or divine. . . We must be daring and search after Truth; even if we do not succeed in finding her, we shall at least come closer than we are at present.”

Curiosity. Unbound, it does not kill any cats, rather it helps us learn and therefore dispels fear of the unknown. Consider that today is an age of specialisation, not one of all-embracing knowledge. In such circumstances, we are most comfortable defending ourselves on familiar ground, on our islands of limited knowledge. In several areas of our lives, this approach does not work.

In an age where information is vastly available, it might actually be better to look for roads that do not restrict us to narrow specialisations, roads that help us see the universe as a whole. That is where curiosity helps.