Kishore C.S. (November 2002)

Sometime earlier I shared my views on overcoming desires [1]. I have been continuing my thinking what are the ways in which I can simplify my life and overcome the tendency to acquire more and more.

Couple of month back I heard an ad on radio which was explaining how Curiosity plays a major role in our life. Then I also realized one of the major causes in ever increasing desires is this curiosity factor. 

It is natural that we all have curiosity which makes us seek new opportunities, new challenges and makes life interesting. But at the same time curiosity can also lead us into problems and make our life complicated.  This nature is what drives us to do so many things. If you think over many things you have in your life you will find that the desire, the motivation was sparked this curiosity. 

I have done this kind of introspection and came up with some standard set of questions which we pose ourselves

1. We visit new places because we are curious why those places famous and what is it like to visit such a place and experience it.

2. We do things like watching a new movie, reading a new book with a curiosity of what is in there that make the movie or book popular

3. Who is God? What is the thing which philosophers keep talking about as something that is eternal?

4. What is it like to be a famous person? What is it like eat so and so ice cream - is it really so good?

and so on ... 

The list will be long. 

Positive effects of Curiosity

Curiosity can trigger big changes in lives of people. Some people can take up a career based on this. 

• A scientist or explorer was curious to find out answers like why and what and results in so many inventions and discoveries.
• Curiosity allows us to challenge ourselves and go beyond the routine and normal life and experience new things. Examples like travel are positive outcomes.

Negative effects of Curiosity

Similar to the negative desires I have mentioned[1] curiosity can also lead to some wrong places and can lead to ruin. I am sure when people start on things like drugs, drinks it most probably starts with the curiosity of what is in it that is so soothing? and soon makes one addictive to such substances. 

When we take up such a step of exploring a new things, we internally some expectations and try to match those expectations with the actual experience. Once our curiosity is satisfied we loose interest in such things. What looked a very important thing to possess becomes dull and uninteresting. 

Next time you have a deep desire for something new, question yourself, is it a necessity or is it a matter of fulfilling curiosity. Curiosity makes us impatient till it is satisfied. 

We are curious of everything in the world:

What is the next person doing? What is it like to a world famous person? What is to be a movie actor? What is life like after marriage? What is life after death? Does God exist? What is happening in other countries/cities? How do stars shine? What happened at the accident site? 

Some things I did because of my Curiosity:

1. What is it to purchase online and especially from sites like Amazon? What is it that so much people talk about Amazon? What does the site offer?

2. Visited so many websites which people forward with links to find out what is there?

3. What is it like to live in US?

4. What is it like to have a 'big personal collection' of books?

5. Watched so many movies because people said they are good. I wanted to watch them to find out what is good in them?

6. What is it like to have one's own domain name and have a website?

7. What is so good about Disney land?

8. What is like to possess 'own' digital camera, scanner and so on. 

Following is a quick list things I am currently curious about:

1. How does new Windows XP and Office XP version look like? How is it different from whatever I am using?
2. Who is God? 
3. A long list of books to Read to find out what they have to teach 
4. A long list of places to visit to find out what they to offer? places like New York, Niagara, Las Vegas, European Countries and so on..

Summary

From the time you have started living on your own, if you feel that your life has become more and more complicated, cluttered with so many things and desires and are looking for simplifying your life, it may be a good idea to do some introspection to find out what is your necessity and what is your curiosity. There is no end to our curiosity. It is one such question "What is it that knowing which every thing else is known?" has led ancient philosophers in search of God. If we cannot control our curiosity we will continue to be disturbed. Learn to channel the curiosity to a select areas so that we can excel in what we are doing and don't let curiosity lead us awry. 

I collected my random thoughts and I do hope they make sense. Voice your opinions by Posting a Comment

1. Related Article: Overcoming Desires