High Cognitive Minds

"What is the single most important quality that suits you for a career in science? People often say 'curiosity,' but surely that can't be the whole story. After all, everyone is curious to some degree, but not everyone is destined to be a scientist. I would argue that you need to be obsessively, passionately, almost pathologically curious. Or, as Peter Medawar once said, you need to 'experience physical discomfort when there is incomprehension.' Curiosity needs to dominate your life." V. S. Ramachandran, "The Making of a Scientist"

This quote is from one of the newest additions to my library, Curious Minds: How a Child Becomes a Scientist, a collection of essays by scientists in a wide variety of fields, edited by John Brockman. For me, science has always been the model for clear thinking, even for subjects far removed from science itself. And studies of science and scientists also provide a good deal of what we know about intellectual creativity. Some people may find this surprising, assuming that science is a very dry, tedious affair. But one of the better kept secrets is that most scientists place a high value on imagination and intuition.

I've learned more about my own mind from reading books about science, and the biographies and autobiographies of scientists, than from all the books and articles on giftedness that I've consumed over the years. Science helped explain my curiosity about the world and fed that curiosity. Even though I'm not a scientist, my life and my thinking have been shaped by science in many ways.

Another quote from Curious Minds. ”In most cases, people reach adolescence with no clear idea that they want to become a scientist o anything else, though they may flit among a set of plausible careers that are familiar to them. (How many children are even aware of the professions that will become their life's calling: mycologist, actuary, endodontist, comptroller, mortgage-loan specialist?) At some point in college, they find themselves with a course or friend or work-study job that exposes them to a way of life that feels congenial. The goals excite them; the daily grind is pleasant; the peers share their interests, values, and sense of humor; the pay, hours, and prestige are acceptable. They increasingly specialize in that field through graduate training and beyond—and there they are." Steven Pinker, "How We May Have Become What We Are"

Chance may determine your final choices, but curiosity will most often lead you to choices that are more meaningful and satisfying than mere chance. It can take you on unexplored paths, and lead you to undiscovered treasures of the mind, whether they're in science, economics, history, literature, or any other field of endeavor. Curiosity is a good beginning for any child, but being "obsessively, passionately, almost pathologically curious" is even better.