In this day and age, curiosity seems to be a good thing. By and large, anyway. After all, science and technology, the crowning glories of human endeavor, are the fruits of inquisitive minds. It was the curious types who found new lands and continents. Progress, in short, seems to have stemmed from this universal human trait.
However all of these gifts of curiosity seem to be relatively recent ones. In our evolutionary past, when we were nomadic hunter gatherers, or perhaps, even more primitive, curiosity must have been dangerous. "I wonder what's behind that tree..." must have often been followed up by, "Ooooh.... oh shit...", and the steady sound of sharp teeth chomping. I'm not saying it would have always ended badly, but surely the odds must have been against curious types. After all, for ages, folk wisdom has warned us that curiosity kills cats. And yet, humans are almost universally curious. We just want to know. How did this (very-useful-in-the-long-term) trait survive !?! How does evolution account for curiosity !?!
Just curious.
However all of these gifts of curiosity seem to be relatively recent ones. In our evolutionary past, when we were nomadic hunter gatherers, or perhaps, even more primitive, curiosity must have been dangerous. "I wonder what's behind that tree..." must have often been followed up by, "Ooooh.... oh shit...", and the steady sound of sharp teeth chomping. I'm not saying it would have always ended badly, but surely the odds must have been against curious types. After all, for ages, folk wisdom has warned us that curiosity kills cats. And yet, humans are almost universally curious. We just want to know. How did this (very-useful-in-the-long-term) trait survive !?! How does evolution account for curiosity !?!
Just curious.
No comments:
Post a Comment