One of the things that I love the most about our race is that we are really curious beings at our core. Despite our several flaws I think that one characteristic is what defines us and has been important in the journey of our evolution.

Curiosity along with our intelligence has ensured not only our dominance on the planet but also a deeper understanding of reality that all other species seem to be oblivious to. We ask questions, we seek and we find out answers. That's who we are.

It's not too difficult to come to this conclusion. Just take a look at little children and you will notice that the 'need to know' is really ingrained in them. It's almost as if we are born scientists. No, we are born scientists.

But the way things work in our society and more importantly our education systems, it is troubling to see that instead of helping flourish this curiosity, we are doing quite the opposite by squashing it.

The Need To Preserve Human Curiosity

I don't know exactly how the education of all the countries in the world work but I do know that in most places, it is not as it should be. We have a system in place that teaches students what to think instead of how to think. And this is not only in schools but colleges and universities as well.

In India especially, the situation is so bad that students are just concerned about exams and nothing more. They mug up all the information (often a day or week before) and regurgitate the same in their exams. There is almost no learning and even if there is, they have no idea where and how everything that they are learning fits in the broader scope of things.

To make matters worse, the natural curiosity of students is squashed like a bug as they are instructed to strictly adhere to the textbooks and the notes that they get from the teachers. In most cases, the teachers aren't even qualified to answer the out of box questions of students which makes them scold the students and kill every last bit of curiosity that they may have.

When the reward for questioning things or thinking out of the box is punishment, then how can we expect these young human beings to contribute in creative ways that the world needs today to solve the biggest problems that we have ever seen.

We really need an overhaul and we need it yesterday. We need to preserve and help flourish the very thing that has brought us this far. Thankfully we are resilient and find our way regardless but the fundamentals need to be rebuilt for a new society.