Curiosity and its benefits are something I’ve been thinking about quite a lot lately, which means the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon* has kicked in and I’m seeing articles about curiosity, like this by Jim Bright on the impact on companies of lack of curiosity, everywhere.
After my recent enjoyable discussion about curiosity with Katie Bennett-Stenton on her podcast I was still thinking about it, so I wrote a companion article to expand on some of the themes. Briefly, I’m a big fan of curiosity. There are lots of benefits to being curious, and those are what I enumerated. So has Jim Bright. And the Harvard Business Review. And half a dozen other people and publications.
And it’s all very true. But what none of us have talked about is the how. If you’re not naturally curious, or au fait with the media landscape, how do you cultivate curiosity, and put it to use in your own communications practice and in the service of your organisation?
How do you cultivate curiosity?
You start by absorbing more content. The format is irrelevant – books, TV, podcasts, social channels, YouTube, movies, magazines, audiobooks, news sites or, increasingly rarely, newspapers. Wherever your (productive) attention currently is, expand it - but explore new and different topics. Follow rabbit holes, but not the ones that have a tin-foil hat dress code.
I’m not talking about absorbing any and all random content you come across. Not only would that be overwhelming, it would be of limited value. Rather, follow interesting linkages and trains of thought to get to new areas of exploration which add value to your thinking and prompt you to ask different questions.
Check your sources
Regardless of whether you approach broadening your content consumption organically, by responding to what comes your way, or strategically, by identifying topics aligned to your interests or profession, the starting point has to be the validity of that content. By which I mean, check out the creators’ bona fides before diving in. Are they a trusted source? Do they fact-check? Do they shout? I have observed a correlation between levels of shouting and objectivity. Or truth. I am aware of the irony – I do not have scientific backing for that claim, and who knows if I’m qualified to tell you how to do anything. I can only offer my own curiosity, a house filled with books and a career spent working in complex sectors as qualifications. It’s up to you whether that’s enough.
Of course you can’t do a background check on every author so, if you dive right in, take some healthy scepticism and a bucket of salt with you. Interrogate what you’re being told as you go. Your own common sense and knowledge will help guide you. If a statement is too absolute (is something never/always/only?), if a claim strains credulity or if what you’re learning seems unlikely then do a quick online search and sense check.
And if you find yourself agreeing with everything you read you might want to take a look at the bubble you’re in and find the nearest exit. You don’t need to move out for good, but a vacation might be good for the soul and the brain.
Critical ignoring
“In an era where attention is the new currency, the admonition to ‘pay careful attention’ is precisely what attention merchants and malicious agents exploit. It is time to revisit and expand the concept of critical thinking, often seen as the bedrock of an informed citizenry.”
While it’s important to ensure you’re reading trustworthy, reliable information, the authors of this paper argue that thinking critically isn’t enough anymore. Their view is that "digital information literacy must include the competence of critical ignoring—choosing what to ignore and where to invest one’s limited attentional capacities."
In their article Anastasia Kozyreva, Sam Wineburg, and Ralph Hertwig review three types of cognitive strategies for critical ignoring: self-nudging, the selective removal of sources and materials from the digital environment; lateral reading, fact-checking by verifying information elsewhere ; and the do-not-feed-the-trolls heuristic, which sees most of us trying (not always successfully) to avoid giving attention to bad actors.
Organically growing your curiosity
A potentially easier and more interesting approach to growing your curiosity is allowing yourself to follow avenues of inquiry that appear as a consequence of what you’re already reading/seeing/hearing. If there’s a link to an article on a related topic, follow that, and the one after it, and move slowly into thinking about other perspectives or opinions.
Perhaps on a podcast a guest you rate mentions a book or a series – read or watch it. If social media serves you an article from a reputable source on a topic you’d normally ignore – what whale earwax can reveal, to take one recent example from the Smithsonian – click and discover. If nothing else, you’ll be better at trivia nights. But you will also start to discover previously unsuspected and quite surprising links between all sort of things.
Consciously growing your curiosity
If that all seems too haphazard, identify someone who seems to be well informed, and have a broad knowledge. Perhaps someone who often shares interesting perspectives or facts that you’ve not come across. Ask them where they get their information.
Find what T Ryan Byerly describes as intellectually dependable people. When considering complex issues we often turn to people we trust for guidance.
“We look at what they’re saying, in light of the broader public discussion. We ask them questions. We share our current, precarious thoughts with them in the hopes that they might help us firm them up. We build up our knowledge of the world within our own personal networks of intellectual dependence.”
If these people aren’t in your circle, follow their socials. Some of the leading experts globally on a range of subjects, from David Attenborough, Brian Cox (the physicist, not actor) and Neil deGrasse Tyson to Yuval Noah Harari and Yo-Yo Ma are sharing their thoughts, interests and inspirations online.
Activating curiosity in your communications practice
What does this mean for communications professionals?
Regardless of how you grow your knowledge, you will have an increasingly rich, holistic and more global context for your work and decisions. You’ll have a more informed lens through which to interpret issues and challenges on the horizon, which will elevate the quality of the advice you offer your organisation.
If you can establish yourself as a trusted source of factual information then you've taken some of the burden off your audience, who will gratefully return to you as the subject matter expert for advice and guidance.
*The Baader-Meinhof phenomenon, also called the frequency illusion, is a cognitive bias. It’s the phenomenon which makes something you recently learned seem to appear everywhere.
Susannah Goddard, October 2024
Photo by Christian Wiediger on Unsplash
Comments