2022-12-03

Curiosity killed the cat

But did it really? I realized a bit of a cultural contradiction recently: we tell people, "Stay curious!" and, "Never lose your child-like curiosity." But we all also know the headline cliché, which means something like, "Be careful you don't ask too many questions, or you'll end up getting hurt." So which is it-- do we want people to be inquisitive, ask questions, discover, and learn; or play it safe and protect themselves?

I grew up as a "dog person," and we never had any pet cats. I've never had anything against them, just never owned one. The most interaction I've had is when one was curious enough to let me pat it on the street, or I visited a friend who had a shy one slinking around the corners of his house. I've recently spent more time around cats than ever before in my life. I can admit it-- they're very cute and interesting creatures. The one in my refrigerator (pictured above) is Tucker.

What I've learned from watching Tucker (and his girlfriend, Hollie) is that cats have a reckless form of curiosity. He'll see a box higher than their head and jump into it (because of their unrelenting love for boxes) without knowing what, if anything, is inside. He'll wedge himself into nooks between boxes in my TRR Designs storage shelves without knowing if he can get back out. He'll walk across a box or paper or board without first testing whether it should be expected to hold his weight. I finally see why the fire department rescuing cats of out trees is such a well-known banality: a cat will climb the tree without evaluating the risk.

I'm a scientist. I've been curious my whole life. But I also try to count the cost before I engage wholeheartedly in an endeavor.

Curiosity, per se, is not the problem. One should not be afraid to ask questions. I would like to take the liberty to repair the maxim:

Cat-like curiosity killed the cat.

Stay curious.