Curiosity

I've always been a curious person. I remember in high school, driving my physics teacher nuts because he wasn't fully explaining how a solenoid worked and I really wanted to know. I can't remember the exact nature of the question but he told me that the answer was 'beyond the scope of this class period.'

I don't understand non-inquisitive people. Those who take the world as it is, at face value, and just roll with it, without question. The world is the way it is because it is the way it is. I'm more curious WHY the world is the way it is - because unless you understand the 'why,' you can't change anything. I guess that's the problem - resigning oneself to always seeing change or progress as coming from elsewhere rather than from within oneself? Seeing yourself as too insignificant to effect any real change? And, in some cases, having a position in society where your privileges prevent you from seeing any need for change at all? I wonder if social psychologists have explored these differences. They probably have.

I guess there are those who also see critical reflection as threatening to ideologies they adhere to, without any understanding of why they hold them so closely. Or those who see others' questions as challenges or an attempt to prove fault, rather than as curiousness.

Religion and politics are two cases that come to mind with this. Someone who is secure in their own beliefs, have reflected upon them, and know why they believe what they believe are often much more open to challenging questions and open to discussing their beliefs. They recognize that the questioner isn't necessarily trying to debunk their point of view but merely curious as to how that point of view came to be. For these people, even if the questioner is trying to challenge or debunk, are secure enough in their own knowledge and beliefs to defend those beliefs without becoming defensive, if that makes any sense?

I find, often, those who were 'born into' an ideology (again, religion and politics are the best examples) and simply roll with it are less likely to question how they came to believe what they believe. It's just the way I was raised - another version of the "the world is the way it is because that's the way it is" argument. If someone who honestly never thought about why they believe what they believe is asked this question, I can see how anxiety or defensiveness can kick in - because they honestly have no good answer - because they don't know.

I just feel like, if you don't understand WHY you believe what you believe, then you're more likely to be simply following empty rhetoric and rituals. If you don't explore your options (even if you end up right back where you started - it's the journey, not the end point that is important here), then you'll never truly understand where your beliefs lie in the grand scheme of things. For example - most people who simply follow the religion they were raised with, without question, rarely see how much in common all religions have with each other - because they never bothered to explore other faiths and learn about them. This compartmentalization of faith, keeping sects separate from one another, ultimately keeps us from making deeper connections with each other.

I am grateful that I found this blogging community because, without it, I never would have become a more open inquisitor. I always wanted to debate and question issues, but it's rare to find those with opposing views who can and want to do so in a civil and intelligent manner. Even in classes, this is often the case. Granted, a majority of my "faithful readers" have similar viewpoints to my own, but there are enough of you who disagree on key issues and I want to say thanks for discussion. You all prove that discussion and debate doesn't have to be an angry circus.

So, I guess to all of you who don't consider yourself questionners - there's never a bad time to start! Go pick up a book on a subject you know nothing about or that is in direct opposition to something you believe - go on, give it a try. It doesn't hurt, I promise.