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Why is curiosity important?

Top voices on curiosity: George Saunders, Aravind Srinivas, Martin Fowler and 10 others.

16 dated claims from 13 people · 4 views · most recent 24 Aug 2026. Every line below links to the person’s own words.

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  1. Curiosity is what separates the best people in a craft from the rest

    Ian SilberMartin FowlerThuan PhamKen NortonThiago Costa

  2. Knowledge is cheap; curiosity is the scarce part, and machines do not have it yet

    George SaundersAravind SrinivasAdam MastroianniMing Thein

  3. Curiosity changes with age rather than simply fading, and keeping it goes with keeping the mind

    Masud HusainAlan Castel

  4. Incuriosity has a cost, and curiosity can be triggered without being rewarded

    Ken NortonAlon LevyRaph Koster

A viewour reading

Curiosity is what separates the best people in a craft from the rest

5 claims filed here, newest first — each in the words of whoever said it.

Designers do not need a background in AI, but they do need high curiosity about it.

  1. Ian Silber Designer who led product design at OpenAI we do not expect you to have a background in AI because again, this is evolving so quickly, but we definitely expect high curiosity about it Chatbots are not the final interface: OpenAI’s Head of Design on what’s next | Ian Silberyoutube.com · 16 Aug 2026 · 0:29:13 into the video
    Their wordswe do not expect you to have a background in AI because again, this is evolving so quickly, but we definitely expect high curiosity about it

    Where this was said

    Watch from 0:29:13 plays here

    ↗Chatbots are not the final interface: OpenAI’s Head of Design on what’s next | Ian Silberyoutube.com

    16 Aug 2026 · video · 1h 12m · spoken · machine transcript

Skepticism about a new technology only works if it is total enough to be turned on itself, which is what forces you to stay curious.

  1. Martin Fowler Chief scientist at Thoughtworks and author of Refactoring My skepticism has to be absolute and total, which means I have to be skeptical about my skepticism. And that requires that curiosity. Martin Fowler & Kent Beck: Frameworks for reinventing software, again and againyoutube.com · 7 Apr 2026 · 11:35 into the video
    Their wordsMy skepticism has to be absolute and total, which means I have to be skeptical about my skepticism. And that requires that curiosity.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 11:35 plays here

    ↗Martin Fowler & Kent Beck: Frameworks for reinventing software, again and againyoutube.com

    7 Apr 2026 · video · 32m · spoken · machine transcript

AI tooling has not compressed the gap between great and average engineers: it is still two or three times, and for the same reasons as before — curiosity and appetite for the bleeding edge.

  1. Thuan Pham Uber's first Chief Technology Officer, from 2013 to 2020 we see the difference between the great engineer and an an average engineer is still two 3x in terms of their capability. They're more inquisitive. they're at the bleeding edge more, they're more innovative, Scaling Uber with Thuan Pham (Uber's first CTO)youtube.com · 1 Apr 2026 · 1:29:24 into the video
    Their wordswe see the difference between the great engineer and an an average engineer is still two 3x in terms of their capability. They're more inquisitive. they're at the bleeding edge more, they're more innovative,

    Where this was said

    Watch from 1:29:24 plays here

    ↗Scaling Uber with Thuan Pham (Uber's first CTO)youtube.com

    1 Apr 2026 · video · 1h 39m · spoken · machine transcript

Good leadership is defined by presence, curiosity, and authenticity rather than always having the right answer.

  1. Ken Norton Executive coach for product leaders Leadership isn't about always having the answer and always being right. It's about being present, deeply curious, and authentic. The Power of Not Knowingbringthedonuts.com · 2 Apr 2025
    Their wordsLeadership isn't about always having the answer and always being right. It's about being present, deeply curious, and authentic.

    ↗The Power of Not Knowingbringthedonuts.com

    2 Apr 2025

Curiosity is probably the number one quality a designer can have.

  1. Thiago Costa Designer and co-founder of Fey being curious I think it's like the number one quality that a design could have just ask questions Thiago Costa - Cultivating taste as a designeryoutube.com · 21 Feb 2025 · 45:16 into the video
    Their wordsbeing curious I think it's like the number one quality that a design could have just ask questions

    Where this was said

    Watch from 45:16 plays here

    ↗Thiago Costa - Cultivating taste as a designeryoutube.com

    21 Feb 2025 · video · 58m · spoken · machine transcript

A viewour reading

Knowledge is cheap; curiosity is the scarce part, and machines do not have it yet

5 claims filed here, newest first — each in the words of whoever said it.

There is no separate class of natural-born artists: the artistic impulse is ordinary curiosity about life turned into a wish to make someone else feel something.

  1. George Saunders American short-story writer and novelist I think of it like this: any person has an innate curiosity about life, and an energy toward it, that may manifest itself in all kinds of ways throughout the course of their life. The Natural-Born Artist.georgesaunders.substack.com · 9 Jul 2026
    Their wordsI think of it like this: any person has an innate curiosity about life, and an energy toward it, that may manifest itself in all kinds of ways throughout the course of their life.

    ↗The Natural-Born Artist.georgesaunders.substack.com

    9 Jul 2026

The obstacle to search is not the competition but the fact that people are not naturally good at turning curiosity into a question.

  1. Aravind Srinivas Co-founder and CEO of Perplexity, an AI answer engine There is a skill to asking good questions, and everyone’s curious though. Curiosity is unbounded in this world. Every person in the world is curious, but not all of them are blessed to translate that curiosity into a well-articulated question. Aravind Srinivas: Perplexity CEO on Future of AI, Search & the Internet | Lex Fridman Podcast #434youtube.com · 19 Jun 2024 · 0:41:07 into the video
    Their wordsThere is a skill to asking good questions, and everyone’s curious though. Curiosity is unbounded in this world. Every person in the world is curious, but not all of them are blessed to translate that curiosity into a well-articulated question.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 0:41:07 plays here

    ↗Aravind Srinivas: Perplexity CEO on Future of AI, Search & the Internet | Lex Fridman Podcast #434youtube.com

    19 Jun 2024 · video · 3h 02m · spoken · official transcript

Curiosity is the thing AI has not cracked: a model can research a question thoroughly, but it cannot decide which question is worth asking.

  1. Aravind Srinivas Co-founder and CEO of Perplexity, an AI answer engine What makes humans special though, is our curiosity. Even if AI’s cracked this, it’s us still asking them to go explore something. And one thing that I feel like AI’s haven’t cracked yet, is being naturally curious and coming up with interesting questions to understand the world and going and digging deeper about them. Aravind Srinivas: Perplexity CEO on Future of AI, Search & the Internet | Lex Fridman Podcast #434youtube.com · 19 Jun 2024 · 1:23:57 into the video
    Their wordsWhat makes humans special though, is our curiosity. Even if AI’s cracked this, it’s us still asking them to go explore something. And one thing that I feel like AI’s haven’t cracked yet, is being naturally curious and coming up with interesting questions to understand the world and going and digging deeper about them.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 1:23:57 plays here

    ↗Aravind Srinivas: Perplexity CEO on Future of AI, Search & the Internet | Lex Fridman Podcast #434youtube.com

    19 Jun 2024 · video · 3h 02m · spoken · official transcript

Knowledge is cheap and easily acquired; what a person actually needs is curiosity, self-efficacy, perseverance, perspective and hope.

  1. Adam Mastroianni Untangling them requires some knowledge, yes, but knowledge is cheap and easily acquired. What you really need is curiosity, self-efficacy, perseverance, perspective, and hope. You'll forget most of what you learn. What should you do about that?experimental-history.com · 12 Jul 2022
    Their wordsUntangling them requires some knowledge, yes, but knowledge is cheap and easily acquired. What you really need is curiosity, self-efficacy, perseverance, perspective, and hope.

    ↗You'll forget most of what you learn. What should you do about that?experimental-history.com

    12 Jul 2022

Creativity consists of curiosity combined with the foresight to imagine what a new combination of ideas could produce.

  1. Ming Thein Photographer and writer based in Malaysia who publishes long-form camera I believe creativity is really two parts: curiosity and the ability to not just ask "what if?", but also use some foresight to imagine the potential outcome. What is creativity?blog.mingthein.com · 15 Aug 2020
    Their wordsI believe creativity is really two parts: curiosity and the ability to not just ask "what if?", but also use some foresight to imagine the potential outcome.

    ↗What is creativity?blog.mingthein.com

    15 Aug 2020

A viewour reading

Curiosity changes with age rather than simply fading, and keeping it goes with keeping the mind

3 claims filed here, newest first — each in the words of whoever said it.

Keeping a social network, staying curious and having a sense of purpose protect against dementia about as much as blood pressure and exercise do.

  1. Masud Husain Professor of Neurology at the University of Oxford Those include that having that sense of purpose, making sure that you have a network of people, that you're socially connected as your age, and also remaining curious, open to new ideas. Those factors turn out to be almost as important as some of the physical things we do. How to Improve Motivation & Overcome Procrastination | Dr. Masud Husainyoutube.com · 24 Aug 2026 · 2:02:11 into the video
    Their wordsThose include that having that sense of purpose, making sure that you have a network of people, that you're socially connected as your age, and also remaining curious, open to new ideas. Those factors turn out to be almost as important as some of the physical things we do.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 2:02:11 plays here

    ↗How to Improve Motivation & Overcome Procrastination | Dr. Masud Husainyoutube.com

    24 Aug 2026 · video · 2h 20m · spoken · machine transcript

Curiosity does not simply fade with age: the general disposition declines while curiosity aroused by a particular thing you care about actually increases.

  1. Alan Castel Professor of psychology at UCLA but as you get older that tends to decline with age which I thought was kind of perplexing because I you know a lot of curious people but we found that levels of state curiosity when I give you some interesting bit of information but I don't give you the answer if it's something you care about that actually increases with age your level of curiosity and learning. How to Improve Your Memory & Cognitive Function at Any Age | Dr. Alan Castelyoutube.com · 13 Jul 2026 · 2:09:35 into the video
    Their wordsbut as you get older that tends to decline with age which I thought was kind of perplexing because I you know a lot of curious people but we found that levels of state curiosity when I give you some interesting bit of information but I don't give you the answer if it's something you care about that actually increases with age your level of curiosity and learning.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 2:09:35 plays here

    ↗How to Improve Your Memory & Cognitive Function at Any Age | Dr. Alan Castelyoutube.com

    13 Jul 2026 · video · 2h 28m · spoken · machine transcript

Older adults are not worse rememberers so much as more selective ones: they keep what they were curious about and let the rest go.

  1. Alan Castel Professor of psychology at UCLA And so, in this study on curiosity, we found that older adults tend to remember the things that they're most curious about, but they're also really good at forgetting the things that they just didn't care about in the first place. How to Improve Your Memory & Cognitive Function at Any Age | Dr. Alan Castelyoutube.com · 13 Jul 2026 · 2:00:07 into the video
    Their wordsAnd so, in this study on curiosity, we found that older adults tend to remember the things that they're most curious about, but they're also really good at forgetting the things that they just didn't care about in the first place.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 2:00:07 plays here

    ↗How to Improve Your Memory & Cognitive Function at Any Age | Dr. Alan Castelyoutube.com

    13 Jul 2026 · video · 2h 28m · spoken · machine transcript

A viewour reading

Incuriosity has a cost, and curiosity can be triggered without being rewarded

3 claims filed here, newest first — each in the words of whoever said it.

Resisting the discomfort of not knowing leads people to jump to conclusions or decide before they have enough information.

  1. Ken Norton Executive coach for product leaders When we resist not knowing, we often leap to conclusions, make decisions without all of the information, or simply guess. Of course, that might make it even more likely that we're wrong, the very thing our subconscious is trying to avoid. Needing to be right comes at the expense of curiosity. The Power of Not Knowingbringthedonuts.com · 2 Apr 2025
    Their wordsWhen we resist not knowing, we often leap to conclusions, make decisions without all of the information, or simply guess. Of course, that might make it even more likely that we're wrong, the very thing our subconscious is trying to avoid. Needing to be right comes at the expense of curiosity.

    ↗The Power of Not Knowingbringthedonuts.com

    2 Apr 2025

American transit agencies stay expensive out of incuriosity: the practices that would fix them are written in languages nobody in the room reads.

Filed here becauseThe one claim here about an institution rather than a person.

  1. Alon Levy Mathematician turned transport researcher This is not about precarity, because this is not a precarious project; this is about total ignorance and incuriosity about best practices, which emanate from a place that doesn’t natively speak English and doesn’t trade in American political references. High Costs are not About Precaritypedestrianobservations.com · 12 Jan 2023
    Their wordsThis is not about precarity, because this is not a precarious project; this is about total ignorance and incuriosity about best practices, which emanate from a place that doesn’t natively speak English and doesn’t trade in American political references.

    ↗High Costs are not About Precaritypedestrianobservations.com

    12 Jan 2023

A slot machine triggers the brain’s learning and curiosity pathways while teaching nothing, and that one-way exchange is what makes it contemptuous of the player.

Filed here becauseAbout games, not people: a machine that sets curiosity off and teaches nothing back.

  1. Raph Koster Game designer and theorist Slot machines don’t teach you anything; they trigger the learning and curiosity pathways without actually giving you a benefit in return. Social games vs gamblingraphkoster.com · 3 Jul 2013
    Their wordsSlot machines don’t teach you anything; they trigger the learning and curiosity pathways without actually giving you a benefit in return.

    ↗Social games vs gamblingraphkoster.com

    3 Jul 2013

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