204-Teaching Curiosity to the iPad Generation
Can curiosity be trained, or is it something you’re born with?
In this episode we explore why curiosity isn’t a personality trait — it’s a discipline. We begin with the famous teaching method of 19th-century Harvard professor Louis Agassiz, who handed students a single dead fish and told them to examine it. No microscopes, no tools, just stare at the dead fish for days, sometimes weeks. With no tools and no lectures, students were forced past boredom and frustration until patterns, systems, and deeper understanding finally emerged. This lesson wasn’t about biology, it was about learning how to look longer than comfort allows.
From there, we break down the neuroscience of curiosity. We explain why dopamine spikes before an answer, not after. And why anticipation, not consumption, is what locks information into long-term memory. This helps explain why trivia, puzzles, and near-miss questions are so engaging, and why modern internet scrolling quietly kills curiosity through instant answers and what researchers call premature closure.
Finally, we offer a practical framework for rebuilding curiosity in everyday life: noticing gaps in your understanding, forcing yourself to “look again” just a little longer, and resisting the urge to immediately Google answers your brain is already reaching for. Because learning and curiosity doesn’t require genius-level intelligence. It requires patience, frustration tolerance, and the willingness to stay interested after others move on.
todd_lemense
Jan 08, 8:13 AM
Can curiosity be trained, or is it something you’re born with? Show Notes: In this episode we explore why curiosity isn’t a personality trait — it’s a discipline. We begin with the famous teaching method of 19th-century Harvard professor Louis Agassiz, who handed students a single dead fish and told them to examine it. No microscopes, no tools, just stare at the dead fish for days, sometimes weeks. With no tools and no lectures, students were forced past boredom and frustration until patterns, systems, and deeper understanding finally emerged. This lesson wasn’t about biology, it was about learning how to look longer than comfort allows. From there, we break down the neuroscience of curiosity. We explain why dopamine spikes before an answer, not after. And why anticipation, not consumption, is what locks information into long-term memory. This helps explain why trivia, puzzles, and near-miss questions are so engaging, and why modern internet scrolling quietly kills curiosity through instant answers and what researchers call premature closure. Finally, we offer a practical framework for rebuilding curiosity in everyday life: noticing gaps in your understanding, forcing yourself to “look again” just a little longer, and resisting the urge to immediately Google answers your brain is already reaching for. Because learning and curiosity doesn’t require genius-level intelligence. It requires patience, frustration tolerance, and the willingness to stay interested after others move on.
Links:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-the-science-of-curiosity-boosts-learning/
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/brain-reboot/202311/the-psychology-and-neuroscience-of-curiosity