Osmond Wu

Recently, I was lying in the cool sands of the mighty Zagora Desert, gazing up at the endless starry night. A moment of realization hit when I cupped my hands into makeshift binoculars and looked through them like my 5-year-old self. My inner wondrous kid erupted from deep inside of me as I felt a rush of genuine child-like wonder while being transported into a galaxy far far away.

This moment reminded me of my childhood obsession with Star Wars — where I spent countless hours studying different starship models; meticulously charting out the planetary systems of the Inner Rim; and dissecting the rich history and politics of the Old Republic. To me, this was a beacon of imagination, beckoning raw curiosity to understand our lives through the adventures of a distant galaxy.

But as this epiphany faded, I was left wondering — what happened to our insatiable curiosity? Why have we let our vibrant wonders be dimmed by society’s demands and distractions?

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starry night in Zagora, Morocco

An Honest Reassessment.

Spending 6 months abroad in Copenhagen made me reassess the foundations of my beliefs. It provided a new perspective, detached from distractions and preconceived notions. Comfort breeds complacency and oversight. It’s only when we’re taken out of our comfort zones that we identify the flaws in our own beliefs and values.

I realized I had a deeply broken relationship with learning. In the rush of “growing up”, I lost my child-like wonder to the world. Everything I read, consumed, and understood was derived from external motivation — whether it was the drive for career advancement, seeking approval, or building a reputation.

There exist two distinct forms of learning: externally motivated and intrinsically driven.

Externally motivated learning is fueled by outside forces such as the desire for professional success, recognition, or social acceptance. For example, I cycle between business, news, tech, crypto, self-help podcasts, and books to arm my war chest with knowledge so that I can deploy it in social/professional settings to establish social capital — increasing relevancy, reputation, and subsequent validation.
Genuine intellectual curiosity, on the other hand, is characterized by a quest for knowledge that ignites a child-like sense of wonder. It’s an insatiable curiosity that drives us to understand concepts at their core, enabling us to make sense of the world around us. Think of when children always ask the question “why” — it’s their way of delving deep into understanding and making sense of their surroundings.

Both forms of learning are equally important in shaping our intelligence and fostering success. However, societal norms have rigorously influenced us to prioritize externally motivated learning, emphasizing productivity, efficiency, and structure. This approach offers immediate, tangible, and clear rewards for our return on invested time. For instance, acquiring career-related knowledge enhances job performance, leading to career growth and overall success. Yet in the pursuit of productivity-driven learning, we often neglect our intrinsic intellectual curiosity.

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the relationship between intellectual curiosity and time as we age

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But Why Have We Forsaken This Innate Curiosity?

The answer is simple: the knowledge one gains from genuine curiosity isn’t directly applicable, meaning no immediate and tangible results. As we age, our responsibilities increase, leaving less time for what may seem like “unproductive pursuits.”

Take, for example, a VC analyst genuinely interested in quantum physics. Taking the time to understand complex concepts and theorems is intellectually stimulating. But at the end of the day, such efforts bring no immediate benefits to their job in sourcing deals or forming investment theses. With such free time, why shouldn’t the analyst opt to invest their time in activities that offer a higher ROI, such as reading up on the current AI landscape to strengthen their investment thesis?

Indulging in intellectual curiosity is unappealing because of its less tangible returns. Also, the pursuit of knowledge is inherently fractal. Curiosity thrives on imagination and personal drive, lacking the clear structure and endpoints that productivity-driven endeavors offer. In a society fixated on narratives of productivity and efficiency, the ambiguity of curiosity seems incredibly out of place. However, it is this relentless pursuit of uncovering the foundational truth of a concept that cultivates an invaluable skill — to think in first principles.

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Intellectual Curiosity Cultivates First Principles Thinking.

First Principles is “a foundational proposition or assumption that stands alone.” Being able to reason in first principles allows us to form innovative insights and develop unique theses.

An example to illustrate first principles in action can be the process of making the perfect bowl of chicken fried rice. A non-first principles thinker would simply follow a cookbook without question. Whereas a first principles thinker would identify the foundational elements (chicken, rice, water, oil, heat, and spring onions); the properties of each element (types of rice, cuts of chicken, levels of heat); analyze the relationship between each element (how water temp affects tenderness of chicken and texture of rice); experiment and iterate; and finally arrive at the optimal recipe of their liking.

The point to emphasize is the distinction between a first-principles thinker versus a non-first-principles thinker. One is an innovator living by the rules they created while the other is merely a follower — restricted to the creativity of their beholder.

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Why is First Principles Thinking Important?

First principles reasoning doesn’t just allow us to solve complex problems and provide innovative solutions. It is a form of thinking that provides us with intellectual freedom and truth, as we uncover the foundational propositions of our reality and build a worldview that is true and unique to us. It is a means to live life with clarity and conviction.

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What Happened To Our Curiosity? Is it Reversible?

Referring back to the graph, our intellectual curiosity diminishes as we age largely because of the societal influences that discourage questioning and exploration. During childhood, the incessant questioning of “why” often came across as annoying, leading us to surrender our curiosity to the authority of teachers and parents. This pattern is reinforced in secondary education, where the fear of appearing “slow” or disrupting the flow of class limits our inclination to inquire. Even in higher education, we tend to categorize ourselves into specific career paths without ever questioning the fundamental values behind our choices.

We are taught to follow directions. Our inherent tendency to imitate, in the absence of direction, means that we are increasingly trapped in a life governed by other people’s principles. We gravitate towards the same destinations, absorb the same information, and adopt the same thought patterns as those around us. This conformity leads to mediocrity. We do not want to live a life of mediocrity.

Good news, I believe our propensity for curiosity is reversible!

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How Do We Go About Restoring The Pursuit Of Genuine Curiosity?

Society has molded our rigid approach to learning over many years, so it will require considerable effort and discipline to rewire our learning habits. Our curiosity won't just spike overnight, it takes time and effort to cultivate.

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Goal Setting

The effectiveness of goal-setting hinges on the motivation and structure behind the goal itself. We should employ identity-based goals instead of traditional metric-based goals.

To bring about drastic change, we must believe in a new identity. Instead of setting a goal to “read 10 astronomy books by the end of the year,” we want to set an identity goal to “become an expert in astronomy.” The lack of structure in an identity-based goal leverages the fractal nature of knowledge, prompting us to dive deeper into our curiosity. However, to combat inevitable distractions from its structural ambiguity, we must build a robust system to successfully execute our goal.

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Every Day Counts.

The Kaizen approach emphasizes a fundamental shift in the way our system — how we learn — works. We must rewrite day-to-day operations, and habits, to align with our vision to restore curiosity. Once we rewrite our behaviors, we must create a system to implement our actions — robust to the inevitable distractions of life.

Such a system functions under the Power Law: small increments of feeding our curiosity lead to huge returns in the form of improvements in our critical thinking, through improving first principles reasoning.

Specifically, we should implement time blocks to encourage rabbit hole digging. Digging rabbit holes directly practices our first principles thinking as we continuously ask “why” for a specific concept, helping us grasp its fundamental essence.

It’s also crucial to have a dedicated space where we can document our learning journey — a place that feels sacred. The act of keeping track of our progress (publically or privately) can significantly boost motivation.

Keep it fun! At the end of the day, indulging in our child-like curiosity is meant to be exciting. We must find ways to satiate our curiosities while having fun—this is dependent from person to person.

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Final Thoughts

I believe the pursuit of intellectual curiosity isn’t mutually exclusive to externally motivated learning. Continuously seeking knowledge, in both forms, is crucial for personal and professional development. Yet, it’s imperative to recognize that intellectual curiosity is what enables us to think from first principles and develop thoughts and opinions that are authentic and unique. We must be diligent enough to step away from the rigid patterns of thinking we’ve grown accustomed to.

Whether it’s marveling at galaxies far far away or any other fascination that stirs the soul, we all harbor an ever-curious child within us fascinated with life’s greatest mysteries beyond comprehension. What if we just dared to reclaim our child-like wonder?

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Why We Must Reignite Our Child-like Wonder