“Be curious, not judgmental.” – Walt Whitman

We usually start our assembly with a hymn. This week, in the interests of satisfying curiosity, we tried starting with our prayer and finishing with the hymn. An insignificant change one might think, but one which demonstrates how easy it is to get stuck unquestioningly into ways of behaving, or, indeed, thinking.

Having considered all the benefits of healthy curiosity over the last month, this week we wondered whether there might be any downsides to curiosity: did curiosity kill the cat? All through history there are stories of people being told not to open doors, caskets, cupboards, gates and all sorts of other things and, in so many of the stories, the people just did not listen. One such is the Greek myth concerning Pandora whose insatiable curiosity caused her to open a whole box of troubles.

Damaging or useless curiosity can lead people to act without thinking and to ignore risks, thus potentially causing themselves or others harm. In other situations we want to find out something because we’re afraid we’re missing out, or we’ll be left behind – FOMO. Checking social media compulsively fits into this category. Feeling curious about something on a whim and finding answers, only to jump to the next thing, keeps us engaged but without a specific purpose eg following links on Google because they’re there! Watching ‘just one more episode’ of the boxed set to see what happens next. Asking a question for the sake of it….

We need to decide whether the risk is worth the rewards when our curiosity peaks. Fear can be helpful to keep us safe.