Let’s Go a Little back to Childhood

By Onakomaiya Kolawole

“</I think, at a child's birth, if a mother could ask a fairy godmother to endow it with the most useful gift, that gift should be curiosity”- Eleanor Roosevelt .

If you are given the opportunity of going back to your childhood even for just five minutes would u accept to go? If you would, why would you? What is it you would like to manifest or enjoy again as a little child? If you ask me I’ll say yes and you know why? Because I want to enjoy the privilege of asking questions again and again! Mrs. Roosevelt needs not seek for such a desire because God has probably seen how powerful and useful this great tool is and has endowed us with it from the very start. This is confirmed in the words of Edmund Burke “the first and simplest emotion which we discover in the human mind, is curiosity”. The curiosity of children is simply overwhelming and humbling too.
Am sure most of you will agree with me that children are probably more inquisitive than most of us are. They simply just can’t stop asking questions. Their questions range from smart, intelligent and even unbelievable ones to stupid and often annoying ones. Yet, no matter how much you answer or rebuff them they will always come back to ask even more question! Obviously they do not subscribe to the saying that there is a foolish question and I think they are right and as affirmed by Charles Proteus “there are no foolish questions, and no man becomes a fool until he has stopped asking questions”
This no doubt is why they seem to be very smart. They are oblivious of happenings around them and this makes them curious and this curiosity no doubt is the bedrock of their intelligence because curiosity beget an insatiable desire to know and the desire to know beget questions and questions results in two things either the seeker gets an answer (knowledge) as it is written in the holy bible …”seek and you shall find”… or it results in more puzzle which result brings about more curiosity and the cycle go on and on. This is why curiosity is the bedrock of knowledge, no wonder Albert Einstein said “Curiosity is more important than knowledge.” Education cannot survive if curiosity is lost as rightly put by Smiley Blanton “a sense of curiosity is nature’s original school of education”
Unfortunately this curiosity does not last long because as we grow older this important value is wiped out to use the words of the great psychologist of learning BF Skinner. Quoting Skinner he said No one asks how to motivate a baby. A baby naturally explores everything it can get at, unless restraining forces have already been at work. And this tendency doesn’t die out, it’s wiped out.” These restraining forces in my own opinion are because we neglect this vital tool as we grow older. We erroneously believed as we grow older that we know it all. We feel don’t need the guidance of our predecessors again. We lost our curiosity, we become lazy and proud and so we fail. We poke into anything but our own ignorance and its just simply absurd that students can waste a whole day prying and surfing for information that concerns anyone but them and as Plato rightly said “to be curious about that which is not one’s concern while still in ignorance of oneself is ridiculous”. We forget knowledge can only be amassed by seeking for answers to various questions.
Life is all full of questions and those who ask the most questions ultimately get the most answers. The answers gotten are what are used to surmount the vicissitudes of life. This is because the more questions of life you are able to answer the more immunity you gain against the ‘floods’ of life. ‘And when the troubles (influence, poor grades, temptation, assault, pressure, anger etc. ) of life come as a flood, your answers will lift up a standard against them’. It is the answers previously acquired that will serve as a guard and guide against any pitfalls in the race of life. After all, what you don’t ask you are not entitled to know and what you don’t know has the right to make you a victim. Sadly students don’t ask questions again the curious student who attempt to be smart by asking questions will see the wrath of his or her colleagues simply because they are tired of the class as almost all lectures is usually boring to them and the moment the lecturer ask any quest… you will hear a resounding echo of NO so loud the lecturer will be so offended he wouldn’t bother asking such next time. This is really worrisome. I have learnt not to ask questions again in class no matter how tempting it is, and would rather ask the lecturer personally or thanks to internet. Only, I alone will be the only beneficiary of such. This to me calls for alarm because it is why many final year students cannot write their project themselves. This should not surprise us if we can remember the words of Zora Neale Hurston “research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose” they couldn’t conduct their research because they have lost the vital tool of acquiring knowledge.
Be curious. Read widely. Try new things. What people call intelligence just boils down to curiosity”― Aaron Swartz. You will agree with me that the importance curiosity and questions cannot be overemphasized especially on the quest to be successful in life. If only we can yield the words of Marie Curie “be less curious about people and more curious about ideas”. Even Albert Einstein said “I have no special talents just passionately curious”. The beautiful thing about curiosity is that it awakens the sleeping giant within you, it makes you thirst for answers, thirst for knowledge and a strong desire to know more making you unsatisfied with your statuesque which launch you into another era of adventure and research because the more answers you get the more puzzled you are. Ever wonder why Socrates said “the only thing I know is that I know nothing”? Don’t you think it’s probably because he always has more questions and puzzles to solve the more he answered them. Haruki Murakami said “curiosity can bring guts out of hiding at times, maybe even get them going. But curiosity usually evaporates. Guts have to go for the long haul. Curiosity’s like a fun friend you can’t really trust. It turns you on and then it leaves you to make it on your own-with whatever guts you can muster.” Yes, the guts, curiosity gives you the guts and courage to dare the impossible thereby challenging you to do more, thirst more, desire more and ultimately achieve more.
To emphasize the importance of curiosity the words of Criss Jami comes readily to mind when she said “beyond all sciences, philosophies, theologies, and histories, a child’s relentless inquiry is truly all it takes to remind us that we don’t know as much as we think we know.” Realizing this would tell us that we may not really know as much as we think we know. This might however b a daunting task because it might mean “going back to childhood” but if you ask me I think it would be worthwhile and maybe a little fun too.
Finally, let me end this epistle by quoting Aaron Swartz “Be curious. Read widely. Try new things. What people call intelligence just boils down to curiousity.”
“I think, at a child’s birth, if a mother could ask a fairy godmother to endow it with the most useful gift, that gift should be curiosity”- Eleanor Roosevelt .
If you are given the opportunity of going back to your childhood even for just five minutes would u accept to go? If you would, why would you? What is it you would like to manifest or enjoy again as a little child? If you ask me I’ll say yes and you know why? Because I want to enjoy the privilege of asking questions again and again! Mrs. Roosevelt needs not seek for such a desire because God has probably seen how powerful and useful this great tool is and has endowed us with it from the very start. This is confirmed in the words of Edmund Burke “the first and simplest emotion which we discover in the human mind, is curiosity”. The curiosity of children is simply overwhelming and humbling too.
Am sure most of you will agree with me that children are probably more inquisitive than most of us are. They simply just can’t stop asking questions. Their questions range from smart, intelligent and even unbelievable ones to stupid and often annoying ones. Yet, no matter how much you answer or rebuff them they will always come back to ask even more question! Obviously they do not subscribe to the saying that there is a foolish question and I think they are right and as affirmed by Charles Proteus “there are no foolish questions, and no man becomes a fool until he has stopped asking questions”
This no doubt is why they seem to be very smart. They are oblivious of happenings around them and this makes them curious and this curiosity no doubt is the bedrock of their intelligence because curiosity beget an insatiable desire to know and the desire to know beget questions and questions results in two things either the seeker gets an answer (knowledge) as it is written in the holy bible …”seek and you shall find”… or it results in more puzzle which result brings about more curiosity and the cycle go on and on. This is why curiosity is the bedrock of knowledge, no wonder Albert Einstein said “Curiosity is more important than knowledge.” Education cannot survive if curiosity is lost as rightly put by Smiley Blanton “a sense of curiosity is nature’s original school of education”
Unfortunately this curiosity does not last long because as we grow older this important value is wiped out to use the words of the great psychologist of learning BF Skinner. Quoting Skinner he said No one asks how to motivate a baby. A baby naturally explores everything it can get at, unless restraining forces have already been at work. And this tendency doesn’t die out, it’s wiped out.” These restraining forces in my own opinion are because we neglect this vital tool as we grow older. We erroneously believed as we grow older that we know it all. We feel don’t need the guidance of our predecessors again. We lost our curiosity, we become lazy and proud and so we fail. We poke into anything but our own ignorance and its just simply absurd that students can waste a whole day prying and surfing for information that concerns anyone but them and as Plato rightly said “to be curious about that which is not one’s concern while still in ignorance of oneself is ridiculous”. We forget knowledge can only be amassed by seeking for answers to various questions.
Life is all full of questions and those who ask the most questions ultimately get the most answers. The answers gotten are what are used to surmount the vicissitudes of life. This is because the more questions of life you are able to answer the more immunity you gain against the ‘floods’ of life. ‘And when the troubles (influence, poor grades, temptation, assault, pressure, anger etc. ) of life come as a flood, your answers will lift up a standard against them’. It is the answers previously acquired that will serve as a guard and guide against any pitfalls in the race of life. After all, what you don’t ask you are not entitled to know and what you don’t know has the right to make you a victim. Sadly students don’t ask questions again the curious student who attempt to be smart by asking questions will see the wrath of his or her colleagues simply because they are tired of the class as almost all lectures is usually boring to them and the moment the lecturer ask any quest… you will hear a resounding echo of NO so loud the lecturer will be so offended he wouldn’t bother asking such next time. This is really worrisome. I have learnt not to ask questions again in class no matter how tempting it is, and would rather ask the lecturer personally or thanks to internet. Only, I alone will be the only beneficiary of such. This to me calls for alarm because it is why many final year students cannot write their project themselves. This should not surprise us if we can remember the words of Zora Neale Hurston “research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose” they couldn’t conduct their research because they have lost the vital tool of acquiring knowledge.
Be curious. Read widely. Try new things. What people call intelligence just boils down to curiosity”― Aaron Swartz. You will agree with me that the importance curiosity and questions cannot be overemphasized especially on the quest to be successful in life. If only we can yield the words of Marie Curie “be less curious about people and more curious about ideas”. Even Albert Einstein said “I have no special talents just passionately curious”. The beautiful thing about curiosity is that it awakens the sleeping giant within you, it makes you thirst for answers, thirst for knowledge and a strong desire to know more making you unsatisfied with your statuesque which launch you into another era of adventure and research because the more answers you get the more puzzled you are. Ever wonder why Socrates said “the only thing I know is that I know nothing”? Don’t you think it’s probably because he always has more questions and puzzles to solve the more he answered them. Haruki Murakami said “curiosity can bring guts out of hiding at times, maybe even get them going. But curiosity usually evaporates. Guts have to go for the long haul. Curiosity’s like a fun friend you can’t really trust. It turns you on and then it leaves you to make it on your own-with whatever guts you can muster.” Yes, the guts, curiosity gives you the guts and courage to dare the impossible thereby challenging you to do more, thirst more, desire more and ultimately achieve more.
To emphasize the importance of curiosity the words of Criss Jami comes readily to mind when she said “beyond all sciences, philosophies, theologies, and histories, a child’s relentless inquiry is truly all it takes to remind us that we don’t know as much as we think we know.” Realizing this would tell us that we may not really know as much as we think we know. This might however b a daunting task because it might mean “going back to childhood” but if you ask me I think it would be worthwhile and maybe a little fun too.
Finally, let me end this epistle by quoting Aaron Swartz “Be curious. Read widely. Try new things. What people call intelligence just boils down to curiousity.”