Peter Morville

In your own words, what is curiosity?

Curiosity or “the desire to know or learn” is a product of evolution. In all beings, it propels the search for sustenance, shelter, and relationship. It’s also a catalyst for culture change. As Carl Safina notes in ​Becoming Wild​, “culture depends crucially on crowds of conformists and the rare innovator.” The innovator is a curious being who asks “what if?” and tries a different way.

How has being curious impacted your life?

I live in the future. My mind endlessly asks “what’s next?” This is why I’m an information architect. I love imagining structures into reality. This is why I wrote ​Planning for Everything​. I’m fascinated by the design of paths and goals. I’m driven to test and refine mental models, using memory as the basis for prediction. I hunger for the dopamine of understanding. Anticipation outweighs rewards. I love being wrong. Cognitive dissonance means I can learn.

What person, animal, or thing models curiosity best?

I admire the courageous curiosity of our dog, Asha.

As we wander the Blue Ridge Mountains along the Appalachian Trail, she follows her nose into every nook and cranny. Frogs, snakes, possums, bears: Asha never met a critter undeserving of a good sniff. Our dog is unburdened by knowing “curiosity killed the cat.” I’m jealous. And I hope she never meets a copperhead.  I’ve been burned by curiosity, literally. As a child I stuck my finger in a cigarette lighter to see if it was hot. These days I’m too careful at the cost of being joyful.

I need to be more like Asha.