[Music]
so hi i’m i’m derek and i like questions
a lot they are an incredibly useful tool
in in the work that i do if we can if we
can take all of our loose thinking and
put it in the form of a question it
helps it helps everything it makes it a
lot easier to figure out what we’re
trying to find so for example on my
radio show and podcast every episode the
title of the show is a question and
that’s where we start and we blast off
from there so today my question is this
what is the value of curiosity this is a
tough question to answer because we
don’t usually think of curiosity in that
way as something that has value or even
something that we can measure we usually
think about curiosity as something
that’s playful and whimsical curiosity
is fun but we we don’t think about the
long-term effect that it has on our
lives so what is the value of curiosity
I think it’s a lot I think
stick with me on this I think curiosity
is the key to finding the meaning of
life that’s a lot of value so stick with
me here’s my here’s my proof take any
person who has has found real meaning in
their life they know what their passion
is they know it wakes them up in the
morning they know who they are and
what’s important to them and they found
joy in that and when you when you talk
to them when you ask them about this
what made you become a teacher or an
artist or a religious leader and it
doesn’t even have to be their job it can
be it can be anything that that pulls at
them in their life you might be asking
you might be asking them why do you run
marathons or why do you meditate or how
did you get involved in this cause or
how did you meet the love of your life
whatever it is as they as they hold up
this thing that they value if you if you
pull the thread out
this idea and slowly follow their life
backwards in time you can you can see
how all of this began because what’s
what’s so meaningful in their life now
what what gives their life its meaning
these monumental things now that’s what
it is but before that it was it was
something smaller it was something they
were passionate about and before it was
something that they were passionate
about it was something smaller it was
something that interested them and
before it was something that interested
them it was something smaller it was
just something that they had on their
mind
and we can follow this all the way back
even to a time when they didn’t even
know this thing existed and then one day
something or somebody caught their
attention
made them say wow pulled them in to
something new and it changed the rest of
what happened that is curiosity and it
can completely change the road that
you’re on so if you think in your own
life about what your passion is whatever
it is you love whoever you love if you
close your eyes this will be fun if you
close your eyes and think back to the
moment that you first encountered it
sometimes that’s even hard to do to
really even remember what that was like
because that moment is so tiny and
fragile but think about what would have
happened if you hadn’t paid attention it
could have just as easily never happened
that’s terrifying so you can open your
eyes because that is shocking too when
we see it that way right everything in
our in our lives that gives us meaning
these huge pillars of who we are are
just precariously balanced on these tiny
moments but luckily we got curious we
hung on to those moments and if you
haven’t found this kind of life –
finding passion in your life yet that’s
okay you will you will all you have to
do is just listen to that internal voice
when it suddenly says oh that’s
interesting I I want to know I want to
know more about that and that’s how all
of the rest of it starts so we find the
meaning of life we find the meaning of
our own lives by just adding more
curiosity into our lives right there’s
problem here I work with curiosity a lot
and it is incredibly difficult to work
with it is unpredictable it is
impossible to control I mean you can’t
like make a person curious any more than
you can make a person hungry but you can
show a person lots of pictures of
delicious food you can tell them stories
about amazing restaurants and really
incredible things to eat you can make
them dinner and then you can hope that
they are ready to be hungry the same is
true of curiosity you can’t force it all
you can do as invite it in and so that’s
what I do in my work and my radio shows
in art installations in these kooky
interactive experiences that I do out in
the world they’re all invitations for
people to practice being curious about
small random things so that we’re ready
when the big things come along the big
things that will completely change our
I want to tell you a story about how
curiosity can change a life and so we
can see the value of what what curiosity
can do and it’s a story that you
probably already know but I think we’ve
been seeing it wrong this whole time and
this is kind of a left turn here so hang
with me there’s an ancient Greek story
called The Odyssey and it was written by
Homer
it’s a it’s after the Trojan War and the
main character Odysseus and all of his
crew they just want to go home and the
Odyssey is their adventures with
unexpected dangers and these mythical
creatures all along the way it was
written about 3000 years ago and it is a
pillar of Western literature you know it
whether you’ve read it or not it’s part
of it’s a part of our world I think
we’ve been getting this story wrong this
whole time and don’t feel bad because by
all I mean all of humanity for the past
3,000 years we’ve missed the point of a
story but that era that changes right
now we’re gonna we’re gonna fix this
it’s not a it’s not a story about a hero
because that’s what a lot of people say
and they point to Odysseus and they say
he’s a hero and heroes traits he’s he’s
brave he’s strong he’s clever cunning is
the word that they use a lot these are
the traits of a hero and this is the
hero’s journey I don’t think this is a
story about how to be a hero
I think this is a story about how to be
curious and why this matters is because
what we focus on in a story has a deep
effect on what we learn from it this
isn’t a story about a hero this is a
story about someone who’s being curious
here’s my proof one of the most famous
parts in the story the the sailors and
Odysseus imel’s men they have to sail
past the sirens
you know these monsters but they sing
these beautiful sounds and they lure
sailors to their death so Odysseus has
all of his men fill their ears with
beeswax they as they sail past they
won’t hear the sound
they won’t be seduced no crashing ships
so he does this with all his men but not
himself he doesn’t fill his years with
beeswax instead he’s tied to the mast of
the ship so they sail past safely and
the whole time Odysseus is there
writhing in agony being seduced by the
sounds that he hears that is a beautiful
image but let’s do a little bit of
critical thinking here for a second that
is a crazy plan if we really think about
this there is no tactical advantage to
doing this I mean think about this what
a naval campaign successful one in
history have you ever heard of that
starts with step one tie the captain to
the mast it doesn’t exist it is a
terrible idea and he’s not doing this
because he’s helping his men this
doesn’t make them safe he’s not being
heroic he’s not saving anybody he does
this because he’s curious he wants to
hear the sound and he wants to survive
and because he does this he is the only
person who’s able to describe what he
heard when we start thinking about this
this just this story and start seeing
this this idea of curiosity we notice
it’s throughout the whole story one of
my favorite moments the ships there’s 12
of them at the time they’re sailing past
this island that is rumored to be the
home of giants it’s late at night
there’s no wind so they decide to just
creep into the harbor and rest for the
night they drop anchor safely away from
the shore
and they rest all of them except
Odysseus and his boat and the 12th boat
and and he’s curious he he wants to know
if Giants really exist
so he and the man on his ship sail past
that safe harbor all the way around to
the shore and they get out and they go
exploring they can’t resist they want to
know if there are giants there are
giants and the Giants wake up and they
see the ships out in the harbor and they
grab these boulders from the tops of the
mountains they throw them out smash all
of the boats they spear all of the men
like their tiny little fish everybody
dies except Odysseus and his men who
could not resist going exploring
curiosity literally saves their life the
whole story is filled with with
curiosity it’s really a parable about
how to think about curiosity and if
we’re at this point now where we’re
saying okay curiosity is good the story
tells us there’s more to it than that
it’s not always good the first day of
their adventure the first day that
they’re leaving Troy after after the war
day one and the wind-god olace as a
favor collects all of the ill winds
stuffs them into a bag seals it up and
gives it to Odysseus and his men so it’s
smooth sailing they get home in ten days
by the ninth day that they’re out at sea
the men have gotten curious what’s in
that bag they can see ethica on the
horizon in their home they’re that close
but they can’t resist
what’s in the bag so think of course
they open the bag all the ill winds come
out and it pushes them back out to sea
what should have taken 10 days it takes
10 years for them to you know so
curiosity
doesn’t always help us out it can also
it can also get us into trouble and what
finally gets Odysseus home in the end
sorry he gets home spoiler alert
so actually I’m not sorry at all you’ve
had 3000 years to read this that’s on
you if you don’t know okay he gets home
and what finally gets him home it’s not
it’s not his bravery it’s not his
strength it’s not his cunning after 10
years none of those things have worked
all of his men at this point have died
or they’re lost all of the ships of men
have been destroyed he he almost drowns
and he washes up on the shore of this
foreign lands lifeless and the people
there they they pick him up they feed
him they clothed him they nurse him back
to health
and when they find out that he wants to
go home they just take him home the
thing that he’s been trying to do for 10
years and they just gave it to him no
problem what do they want in return they
want to hear his story his story has
value because he was curious he now has
a story that helps him get the thing
that he wants so curiosity the thing
that blew him out to sea for 10 years is
the very same thing that ultimately got
him what he wanted if you’re feeling a
little uneasy about curiosity right now
I totally get it the Odyssey is a deeply
conflicted story in there are many ways
to think about its meaning the same is
true of curiosity so if you’re asking
yourself some questions
is curiosity it’s curiosity dangerous or
is it helpful is curiosity distracting
or is it something that gives us focus
its curiosity something that pulls us
away from or towards the people and the
things that we love the answer is yes it
is all of these things and that means
curiosity is risky by definition is
risky because curiosity pulls us into
the unknown like a magnet it pulls us
into our lives and life is risky the
hidden message in the Odyssey is the
same one that I tell people all the time
with my work your life is your adventure
and how you lean into it makes a
difference to the people around you who
want to hear your stories that people
who want to help you live those stories
it makes a difference so what is the
value of curiosity what is the value of
finding the meaning of life I mean it’s
just a question but questions often help
us find what we’re looking for and an SS
aside if we’ve missed this message
staring us in the face for the past
three thousand years then what other
discoveries are waiting for you just
below the surface just waiting for you
to dig in so be curious and let me know what you find out
so hi i’m i’m derek and i like questions
a lot they are an incredibly useful tool
in in the work that i do if we can if we
can take all of our loose thinking and
put it in the form of a question it
helps it helps everything it makes it a
lot easier to figure out what we’re
trying to find so for example on my
radio show and podcast every episode the
title of the show is a question and
that’s where we start and we blast off
from there so today my question is this
what is the value of curiosity this is a
tough question to answer because we
don’t usually think of curiosity in that
way as something that has value or even
something that we can measure we usually
think about curiosity as something
that’s playful and whimsical curiosity
is fun but we we don’t think about the
long-term effect that it has on our
lives so what is the value of curiosity
I think it’s a lot I think
stick with me on this I think curiosity
is the key to finding the meaning of
life that’s a lot of value so stick with
me here’s my here’s my proof take any
person who has has found real meaning in
their life they know what their passion
is they know it wakes them up in the
morning they know who they are and
what’s important to them and they found
joy in that and when you when you talk
to them when you ask them about this
what made you become a teacher or an
artist or a religious leader and it
doesn’t even have to be their job it can
be it can be anything that that pulls at
them in their life you might be asking
you might be asking them why do you run
marathons or why do you meditate or how
did you get involved in this cause or
how did you meet the love of your life
whatever it is as they as they hold up
this thing that they value if you if you
pull the thread out
this idea and slowly follow their life
backwards in time you can you can see
how all of this began because what’s
what’s so meaningful in their life now
what what gives their life its meaning
these monumental things now that’s what
it is but before that it was it was
something smaller it was something they
were passionate about and before it was
something that they were passionate
about it was something smaller it was
something that interested them and
before it was something that interested
them it was something smaller it was
just something that they had on their
mind
and we can follow this all the way back
even to a time when they didn’t even
know this thing existed and then one day
something or somebody caught their
attention
made them say wow pulled them in to
something new and it changed the rest of
what happened that is curiosity and it
can completely change the road that
you’re on so if you think in your own
life about what your passion is whatever
it is you love whoever you love if you
close your eyes this will be fun if you
close your eyes and think back to the
moment that you first encountered it
sometimes that’s even hard to do to
really even remember what that was like
because that moment is so tiny and
fragile but think about what would have
happened if you hadn’t paid attention it
could have just as easily never happened
that’s terrifying so you can open your
eyes because that is shocking too when
we see it that way right everything in
our in our lives that gives us meaning
these huge pillars of who we are are
just precariously balanced on these tiny
moments but luckily we got curious we
hung on to those moments and if you
haven’t found this kind of life –
finding passion in your life yet that’s
okay you will you will all you have to
do is just listen to that internal voice
when it suddenly says oh that’s
interesting I I want to know I want to
know more about that and that’s how all
of the rest of it starts so we find the
meaning of life we find the meaning of
our own lives by just adding more
curiosity into our lives right there’s
problem here I work with curiosity a lot
and it is incredibly difficult to work
with it is unpredictable it is
impossible to control I mean you can’t
like make a person curious any more than
you can make a person hungry but you can
show a person lots of pictures of
delicious food you can tell them stories
about amazing restaurants and really
incredible things to eat you can make
them dinner and then you can hope that
they are ready to be hungry the same is
true of curiosity you can’t force it all
you can do as invite it in and so that’s
what I do in my work and my radio shows
in art installations in these kooky
interactive experiences that I do out in
the world they’re all invitations for
people to practice being curious about
small random things so that we’re ready
when the big things come along the big
things that will completely change our
I want to tell you a story about how
curiosity can change a life and so we
can see the value of what what curiosity
can do and it’s a story that you
probably already know but I think we’ve
been seeing it wrong this whole time and
this is kind of a left turn here so hang
with me there’s an ancient Greek story
called The Odyssey and it was written by
Homer
it’s a it’s after the Trojan War and the
main character Odysseus and all of his
crew they just want to go home and the
Odyssey is their adventures with
unexpected dangers and these mythical
creatures all along the way it was
written about 3000 years ago and it is a
pillar of Western literature you know it
whether you’ve read it or not it’s part
of it’s a part of our world I think
we’ve been getting this story wrong this
whole time and don’t feel bad because by
all I mean all of humanity for the past
3,000 years we’ve missed the point of a
story but that era that changes right
now we’re gonna we’re gonna fix this
it’s not a it’s not a story about a hero
because that’s what a lot of people say
and they point to Odysseus and they say
he’s a hero and heroes traits he’s he’s
brave he’s strong he’s clever cunning is
the word that they use a lot these are
the traits of a hero and this is the
hero’s journey I don’t think this is a
story about how to be a hero
I think this is a story about how to be
curious and why this matters is because
what we focus on in a story has a deep
effect on what we learn from it this
isn’t a story about a hero this is a
story about someone who’s being curious
here’s my proof one of the most famous
parts in the story the the sailors and
Odysseus imel’s men they have to sail
past the sirens
you know these monsters but they sing
these beautiful sounds and they lure
sailors to their death so Odysseus has
all of his men fill their ears with
beeswax they as they sail past they
won’t hear the sound
they won’t be seduced no crashing ships
so he does this with all his men but not
himself he doesn’t fill his years with
beeswax instead he’s tied to the mast of
the ship so they sail past safely and
the whole time Odysseus is there
writhing in agony being seduced by the
sounds that he hears that is a beautiful
image but let’s do a little bit of
critical thinking here for a second that
is a crazy plan if we really think about
this there is no tactical advantage to
doing this I mean think about this what
a naval campaign successful one in
history have you ever heard of that
starts with step one tie the captain to
the mast it doesn’t exist it is a
terrible idea and he’s not doing this
because he’s helping his men this
doesn’t make them safe he’s not being
heroic he’s not saving anybody he does
this because he’s curious he wants to
hear the sound and he wants to survive
and because he does this he is the only
person who’s able to describe what he
heard when we start thinking about this
this just this story and start seeing
this this idea of curiosity we notice
it’s throughout the whole story one of
my favorite moments the ships there’s 12
of them at the time they’re sailing past
this island that is rumored to be the
home of giants it’s late at night
there’s no wind so they decide to just
creep into the harbor and rest for the
night they drop anchor safely away from
the shore
and they rest all of them except
Odysseus and his boat and the 12th boat
and and he’s curious he he wants to know
if Giants really exist
so he and the man on his ship sail past
that safe harbor all the way around to
the shore and they get out and they go
exploring they can’t resist they want to
know if there are giants there are
giants and the Giants wake up and they
see the ships out in the harbor and they
grab these boulders from the tops of the
mountains they throw them out smash all
of the boats they spear all of the men
like their tiny little fish everybody
dies except Odysseus and his men who
could not resist going exploring
curiosity literally saves their life the
whole story is filled with with
curiosity it’s really a parable about
how to think about curiosity and if
we’re at this point now where we’re
saying okay curiosity is good the story
tells us there’s more to it than that
it’s not always good the first day of
their adventure the first day that
they’re leaving Troy after after the war
day one and the wind-god olace as a
favor collects all of the ill winds
stuffs them into a bag seals it up and
gives it to Odysseus and his men so it’s
smooth sailing they get home in ten days
by the ninth day that they’re out at sea
the men have gotten curious what’s in
that bag they can see ethica on the
horizon in their home they’re that close
but they can’t resist
what’s in the bag so think of course
they open the bag all the ill winds come
out and it pushes them back out to sea
what should have taken 10 days it takes
10 years for them to you know so
curiosity
doesn’t always help us out it can also
it can also get us into trouble and what
finally gets Odysseus home in the end
sorry he gets home spoiler alert
so actually I’m not sorry at all you’ve
had 3000 years to read this that’s on
you if you don’t know okay he gets home
and what finally gets him home it’s not
it’s not his bravery it’s not his
strength it’s not his cunning after 10
years none of those things have worked
all of his men at this point have died
or they’re lost all of the ships of men
have been destroyed he he almost drowns
and he washes up on the shore of this
foreign lands lifeless and the people
there they they pick him up they feed
him they clothed him they nurse him back
to health
and when they find out that he wants to
go home they just take him home the
thing that he’s been trying to do for 10
years and they just gave it to him no
problem what do they want in return they
want to hear his story his story has
value because he was curious he now has
a story that helps him get the thing
that he wants so curiosity the thing
that blew him out to sea for 10 years is
the very same thing that ultimately got
him what he wanted if you’re feeling a
little uneasy about curiosity right now
I totally get it the Odyssey is a deeply
conflicted story in there are many ways
to think about its meaning the same is
true of curiosity so if you’re asking
yourself some questions
is curiosity it’s curiosity dangerous or
is it helpful is curiosity distracting
or is it something that gives us focus
its curiosity something that pulls us
away from or towards the people and the
things that we love the answer is yes it
is all of these things and that means
curiosity is risky by definition is
risky because curiosity pulls us into
the unknown like a magnet it pulls us
into our lives and life is risky the
hidden message in the Odyssey is the
same one that I tell people all the time
with my work your life is your adventure
and how you lean into it makes a
difference to the people around you who
want to hear your stories that people
who want to help you live those stories
it makes a difference so what is the
value of curiosity what is the value of
finding the meaning of life I mean it’s
just a question but questions often help
us find what we’re looking for and an SS
aside if we’ve missed this message
staring us in the face for the past
three thousand years then what other
discoveries are waiting for you just
below the surface just waiting for you
to dig in so be curious and let me know what you find out
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