For me, the curiosity conversations are just the most obvious, the most visible example of my own curiosity. They are a kind of discipline, like the exercise routine, because you don’t get to talk to busy, interesting people unless you put steady effort into persuading them to see you. The ability to stimulate curiosity, on the other hand, can save lives, as Scheherazade experienced in the 1001 nights she told cliffhanger stories that needed to be finished before she was ready to die. Obviously, as a mother and teacher, I focus on stimulating curiosity, rather than punishing it, as it is part of effective learning. That's the theory, anyway.

My message was clear: I worked at a real place, I only wanted five minutes on the schedule, I did not want a job. And I was polite.I didn’t quite realize it at that time, but two incredible things happened that day in the summer of 1974.

Curiosity is risky, but natural selection still favored those ancestors of ours who dared to explore questions such as "What is beyond that forest?" or "What's behind that mountain?" This is a really cool observation.

CURIOSITY FAMILY DINNER BOOK CLUB

A few days later, he did come by to talk. He was trying to become a mainstream movie director, and I was trying to become a mainstream movie producer. We were two guy His office was spacious, it had windows, it had two secretaries, and most important, it was right next to the executive suite—what I called the “royal” offices—where the president of Warner Bros. worked, as did the chairman, and the vice chairman. Do you remember when you were young and put everything you touched in your mouth? Endlessly annoyed the living hell out of every adult within earshot with a barrage of ‘but whys’? And flat out just refused to accept, ‘because I said so”, as a suitable or worthy response. Well Ian Leslie, the author of Curious - The Desire to Know and Why Your Future Depends On It, is hoping you have not left that precocious and inquisitive little bugger behind. The men and women whose contracts I delivered changed my life. They showed me a whole style of storytelling I wasn’t familiar with, and I began to think that maybe I was a storyteller at heart. They set the stage for me to produce movies like Splash and Apollo 13, American Gangster, Friday Night Lights, and A Beautiful Mind.

In grad school, I studied what developmental psychologists refer to as “socioemotional skills”. What are often thought of as “soft skills” such as behavioral skills, social skills, self-expression, and introspection are traits people can learn and improve on. I wrote my thesis on how educators can encourage children’s curiosity. I knew logically traits like creativity can be nourished and improved like any other skill. But I still worried about somehow ‘using up’ my creativity if I wrote too much. The guy went on to say he had been a legal clerk. “I just quit today. My boss was a man named Peter Knecht.” All you have to do is look to the Bible to see. The first story in the Bible after the story of creation, the first story that involves people, is about curiosity. The story of Adam, Eve, the serpent, and the tree does not end well for the curious.

BOOKS ABOUT CURIOSITY

Curiosity has never let me down. I’m never sorry I asked that next question. On the contrary, curiosity has swung wide many doors of opportunity for me. I’ve met amazing people, made great movies, made great friends, had some completely unexpected adventures, even fallen in love—because I’m not the least bit embarrassed to ask questions. I was intrigued by the concept of an evolutionary origin driving human curiosity. Compared to other animals, it appears that humans possess a unique biological urge to be curious, to venture into the unknown. Some might say then that curiosity is a key trait of humanity: to be curious is to be human. ONE THURSDAY AFTERNOON, THE SUMMER after I graduated from the University of Southern California (USC), I was sitting in my apartment in Santa Monica with the windows open, thinking about how to get some work until I started law school at USC in the fall. The new office changed everything. Just like when you wear the right clothes for the occasion—when you wear a suit, you feel more confident and grown up—going to work in that real office changed my perspective. All of a sudden I felt like I had my own piece of real estate, my own franchise.

I flew home thinking he would be great at hosting this TV show. In those days, before reality TV and Nancy Grace and Greta Van Susteren, we were thinking of it as a miniseries. We did a deal with Bailey, we hired a writer, but in the end it never got made. In psychology, there’s a well-known concept called confirmation bias. We filter out information that conflicts with what we already believe and focus on information that fits our world view. It’s a mental shortcut — we gather pieces of information to confirm our pre-existing beliefs and dismiss conflicting information that could lead to new insights. We need to fight that bias and be aware of it. If you see something that makes you think, “How could someone think that?” consider it a sign pointing you towards a topic you should explore. Don’t shy away from it. There are different types of curiosity: (shallow) diversive curiosity, (deeper, more disciplined) epistemic curiosity, empathic curiosity (about thoughts and feelings of other people). Diversive curiosity distracts; epistemic and empathic curiosity are forces that deepen the bond between the individual and the world, add layers of interest, complexity and delight to her experience. If I was going to do this job, I didn’t want to miss out on the only good part. I didn’t want to meet housekeepers, I wanted to meet the important people. I was curious about them.

The ability to ask any question embodies two things: the freedom to go chase the answer, and the ability to challenge authority, to ask, “How come you’re in charge?” One day Brandon Tartikoff was walking by. He was the president of NBC television, in the process of reviving the network with shows like Hill Street Blues and Cheers and Miami Vice. At thirty-two, he was already one of the most powerful people in show business. First, my life had just changed forever. When I reported for work as a legal clerk that Monday, they gave me a windowless office the size of a small closet. At that moment, I had found my life’s work. From that tiny office, I joined the world of show business. I never again worked at anything else. I called the number and asked for Peter Knecht. An assistant in his office answered, and I said to her, “I’m going to USC law school in the fall, and I’d like to meet with Mr. Knecht about the law clerk job that’s open.” Children’s books are an absolute gift for curious minds. They stretch across everything from nature and the stars to extraordinary people and movements in history, all kinds of life skills, and…look, I’m never going to be able to write an exhaustible list! You can find a book on every topic under the sun (especially if you have a LIBRARIAN to help you find it - there’s a reason why I dedicated this book to librarians). And if there’s something that hasn’t been written yet, you could bet your last biscuit there’s a writer out there working on it. The range of books is something I was always amazed by as a child stepping into a library. I still feel that way today when I think about what’s out there.