Growing up, curiosity is an intrinsic part of our identities; we unapologetically ask question after question, hoping to gain a more nuanced understanding of the world. But as we get older, we find ourselves more reluctant to question, the natural curiosity that was once such an invaluable part of our lives subsequently dissipating. In Warren Berger’s, “A More Beautiful Question,” he attempts to understand this phenomenon, questioning why we lose our childhood curiosity, and the ways in which we can get it back.
Warren begins his essay by explaining how the education system is complicit in our loss of curiosity. As the education system becomes more rigorous, penalizing wrong answers and assigning copious amounts of schoolwork, it inadvertently dismisses questioning as stupid and a nuisance (who has time to ask questions when we have all this work to finish?). As a result, at school, students are incentivised to stop questioning, to conform and be compliant to expectations, and to be caricatures of the “perfect student.” In my commonplace notebook, I drew a school with the question, “is school killing curiosity” because I genuinely believe that as long as the education system emphasizes “good grades” and “looking good to colleges” over actually learning, it is killing curiosity. However, this issue lies beyond school-- in almost every aspect of life, admitting you don’t know all the answers is considered taboo. A few weeks ago, while attending debate camp, I experienced this issue firsthand; during a discussion about this years debate topic with my lab, I found myself reluctant to ask questions out of fear that my peers would think I was stupid or unworthy of attending the camp. I was so focused on appearing “smart” and “competitive,” that I forgot that asking questions isn’t something to be afraid of-- it’s an inherent and important part of life. So how can we fix this issue? Berger explains that in order to regain our curiosity, we must “attempt to adjust the way [we] look at the world so that [our] perspective more closely aligns with that of a curious child” (page 75). In other words, we must take a step back from our work, acknowledge that we don’t have all of the answers, and attempt to look at the world from a new perspective. In my commonplace book, I drew a picture of the Buddha because meditation is an effective means of regaining curiosity. It forces us to clear our minds, step away from the issues of our daily lives, and re-examine how we approach problems. Although meditation doesn’t automatically make us more effective questioners, Berger explains that upon stepping back and re-examining something we’ve looked at the same way for years, we are able to notice new patterns and phenomenons that we likely wouldn’t have noticed otherwise. Berger’s essay taught me that, unless we want to live in subordination, we must challenge conventional norms, be receptive to new ideas, and inquire about issues that interest us because asking questions isn’t a sign of inferiority, but rather, a means of become more creative and innovative individuals We likely read this essay because this year in AP Lit, we will ask insightful questions that will enhance discussions, challenge what’s considered conventional, and develop our own unique insights on literature.
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