Curiosity

The first virtue is curiosity. A burning itch to know is higher than a solemn vow to pursue truth. To feel the burning itch of curiosity requires both that you be ignorant, and that you desire to relinquish your ignorance. If in your heart you believe you already know, or if in your heart you do not wish to know, then your questioning will be purposeless and your skills without direction. Curiosity seeks to annihilate itself; there is no curiosity that does not want an answer. The glory of glorious mystery is to be solved, after which it ceases to be mystery. Be wary of those who speak of being open-minded and modestly confess their ignorance. There is a time to confess your ignorance and a time to relinquish your ignorance.

—Twelve Virtues of Rationality

Blog posts

• A Fable of Science and Politics
• The Meditation on Curiosity
• Use Curiosity by Anna Salamon
• What Curiosity Looks Like by lukeprog
• The Neglected Virtue of Curiosity by vallinder
• Get Curious by lukeprog

See also

• Seeing with Fresh Eyes
• Semantic stopsign
• Litany of Tarski
• Scholarship
• Doubt