BE CURIOUS: THE MANIFESTO

"I think I know but I don’t know why/The questions are the answers you might need“ -- D’You Know What I Mean?

I. WHY CURIOSITY?

Curiosity is the energy that drives humanity; it’s our greatest natural resource.

Curiosity is a driving force; it’s our defining characteristic.

Where would we be without curiosity?

Forget about the Moon, Mars, the Sagrada Familia, or the Gateway Arch. What about our first words, steps, lessons, kisses, and starts?

Curiosity isn’t just an energy that stokes our fires for actions; it’s a perpetual energy that rewards us for merely for being it–what we were all born to naturally be: curious.

Without curiosity, we’d never question authority–or ourselves.

Curiosity gives us access to think outside of our algorithms.

Curiosity is what whispers to us to try new things and urges our steps wherever what’s new takes us.

Curiosity can be chaotic and entropic, but curiosity can equally be empathetic and caring. These qualities make curiosity great. They also make curiosity wild. Ultimately, they combine to make curiosity valuable and fun.

But what if there were ways to make curiosity less chaotic while maintaining the wild, valuable, and fun?

What if curiosity wasn’t just something to be enjoyed; what if curiosity could be used to create the outcomes we wanted whenever we wanted?

What if all learning started with genuine curiosity... and that learning quickly converted into a new, raw curiosity that grew into a self-sustaining, natural burning energy to fuel a personal power generator for continued learning, innovation, and growth?

What if, whenever we needed to find a solution to a problem, we could innovate, design, test, and implement solutions using personal and collaborative curiosity?

What if, whenever we needed to communicate something effectively or lead groups of people or accomplish something never done before, it always started with repeatable, reliable frameworks of curiosity-based actions to take?

What if we can?

What if we must?

II. WHY CURIOSITY-BASED THINKING?

I started What If Curiosity to take on the issue of curiosity and do something about it. I designed Curiosity-Based Thinking to help us exceed our potential by embracing human curiosity as a powerful tool for problem-solving and growth.

I am enthusiastic, often evangelical, about sharing Curiosity-Based Thinking and creating better opportunities for activating our curiosity on a regular basis; to provide resources for driving and creating curiosity and create “pills” and “gyms” of curiosity to stimulate and strengthen personal curiosity everywhere in order to create a more curious world.

In an ever-changing and expanding world, curiosity remains timeless and universal. Curiosity is our constant, yet we are quick to set it aside as we “grow up.” But when I look around at our world at all the “grown ups,” it’s hard not to realize what’s missing.

When people are filled with curiosity, they have no interest in lethargy, apathy, desperation, resignation, or hate.

When people are filled with curiosity, they are driven by learning, wonder, empathy, and care. Love flourishes among the curious since curiosity is the enemy of apathy and strangles life out of hate.

But that’s just the fluffy side of curiosity.

Curiosity is also hard-edged. The very best engineers, architects, and physicists, use curiosity to build better structures, create new angles, and form formulas that explain our world.

I encourage everyone to ask more from our curiosity and look for more ways to make learning, working, and living more satisfying experiences.

III. BE CURIOUS!

Curiosity-Based Thinking is ever-evolving and squeezes in to too many things to list here, but the 8 Guiding Questions that lay the foundation for all Curiosity-Based Thinking are:

What if curiosity is the energy that powers all progress?

What if to change the world, you must first be curious about it?

What if every curiosity can be pursued to its utmost potential?

What if collaborative competition fueled by curiosity consistently outperforms zero-sum games?

What if curiosity fuels life-long learning?

What if curiosity is the first step to overcoming any challenge?

What if our limitations are merely unasked questions?

What if there's always another question?

At my core, I’m a teacher; in my soul, I’m a helper. I’m here to teach curiosity and to help others, be curious.

So, I figured what if I combine my curiosity about the power of curiosity with my passion for teaching to make a more curious world?

Over the next few years, I’ll be focusing my curiosity laser on issues like evolving education, biomimicry, health, human satisfaction, improving traveling experiences, building outer space, and how to be better humans.

I’m all about opening up the journey for others to join the journey so, if any of that sounds like you, someone you’d like to be, or something you’re curious to know more about, let me know.

To get in touch - email me.

Let’s be curious! Let’s get curious together. Let’s turn our curiosity into a better world.

Stay curious!

Matt