Curiosity leads to critical thinking - AKA "the scientific method." (Photo by FPG/Hulton ... [+]
I became a private pilot about a year ago. It was a lifelong dream to get my license, and now, I’m renting planes and flying around New England on weekends. It’s been such an awesome experience that I’ve decided to write a book about it. Part memoir, part instruction manual; I’ve got about 300 pages done and hope to wrap it up soon.
In the book, I make the point that you don’t need to be a savant to be a pilot. Sure, there’s a lot to learn, and much of it is technical. But you don’t need to be Mensa-level smart to fly a plane. (Thank goodness or I’d be earthbound.) You must, however, possess one trait: curiosity about everything. Without curiosity, it’s impossible to get through training.
Why? Because a student pilot needs to learn about meteorology, reciprocating engines, aerodynamics, electronics, navigation, and a hundred other things. A person who doesn’t enjoy asking themselves, “How does that work?” or “Why is that true?” won’t get too far. Without curiosity, it’s impossible to stay engaged enough to get through all the studying and flight training.
Curiosity isn’t just helpful when learning to fly. It’s important if you want to succeed professionally. Why? Because without curiosity, you can’t be a critical thinker. And critical thinking is a soft skill that employers value highly but have a hard time finding, as noted by the Society for Human Resource Management. What is critical thinking, and how is it connected to curiosity?
We learned about critical thinking in our early school days. We just called it by a different name: the scientific method. The scientific method is all about observing something, developing a hypothesis about why it is the way it is, experimenting to understand if your hypothesis is right, and then adjusting your thinking as necessary until you settle on a “truth.” The scientific method is a roadmap for critical thinking.
But you must meet a prerequisite to be a critical thinker. You’ve probably guessed what it is: curiosity. Why would you observe something and ask a question about it if you weren’t curious? How would you ever understand a process or solve a problem if your starting point wasn’t a question like, “Why is that so?” It’s this ability to look at a question and analyze it with a critical mind that companies value and turns employees into leaders.
Curiosity is just as important in a professional setting as it is in a scientific one. But I think it’s even more important in your everyday life. Curiosity is a muscle you must exercise to keep your critical thinking sharp. Unfortunately, too few people exercise this muscle. Don’t know how to? It’s easy. Ask the question I included in the last paragraph: “Why is that so?” But don’t just ask the question; try to answer it. Even if you know your answer is wrong. Your answer is your hypothesis. Make your best guess. Then, find a book, article, or video that answers your question.
I do this all the time. Lately, I’ve wondered why the pilot of an airplane with two front seats always sits in the left seat. (Nobody seems to be sure, but the preferred answer is a bit too complex to share here.) I’ve wondered why restaurant drive-through customers seem to get more attention than in-restaurant patrons. (I suspect it’s because performance measures for staff are tied to drive-through service and not necessarily in-store.) I’ve wondered why, when you’re standing on a jetway waiting to board a plane, sometimes a motor will kick on and drop the jetway a little. (As the plane gets heavier with passengers, it sinks on its struts so the jetway must be periodically lowered to keep it even with the boarding door.)
These queries exercise that critical thinking muscle. And that is helpful. Be sure you do it every day. Be curious about the things around you. Observe.
And if you’d like a head start, consider this question: Why are astronauts weightless? I’ll give you a hint—it’s not because they aren’t affected by gravity. Develop your hypothesis. And then go to this article I wrote which explains the phenomenon. Don’t look too quickly at the answer, though. Exercise that muscle. Just like other exercises, you’ll know it’s working if it’s hard.
