47 Ways to Kill Your Curiosity

"Curiosity is antifreeze." -- me :-)

• act your age
• don't act your age
• be uninterested in learning
• be cautious
• feel old
• be afraid of the process
• keep a closed mind
• assume one true answer
• be too busy
• be smug about how much you know
• assume only one chance
• focus on the past
• go it alone
• be embarrassed to ask questions
• be part of a community that discourages questioning
• be in crisis
• don't be around children
• don't be skeptical
• be afraid of the results
• ignore things that surprise you
• don't form hypotheses
• look at things through the same glasses
• have an agenda
• be bored
• assume you know the results
• surround yourself with sameness
• be tired
• tell yourself you need a map
• be afraid to look stupid
• be disengaged
• try something that's way beyond you
• surround yourself with incurious people
• don't pay attention
• don't stray from your field of study
• ignore the unusual
• be blind to surprises
• try things one time only
• be ashamed to be proven wrong
• don't write things down
• be afraid of making mistakes
• be impatient
• think teacher, not student
• be a specialist
• look down
• be serious
• say "I know I wouldn't like that"
• talk more than listening
• complain

Comments

[Cooper]

I find myself doing many of these things every day and I wonder why I feel so bored. Thanks for printing it out.

[matthewcornell]

Thanks for your comment, Cooper.