If you’re reading this, you surely are a very curious human being (if you’re an alien, I apologize for calling you a human being). And so am I! What I’ve noticed is that curiosity manifests itself in different ways because the subjects people are curious about differ from one person to another. Some are curious about what others do, others are curious about what is happening in this world, whilst some others are curious about the past. Personally, I’m curious about how humans “work”. What are the reasons behind someone’s behavior.
One of the biggest advantages I find in writing is that I can express my ideas from the beginning until the end without interruption. This becomes pretty difficult when interacting with people because they tend to interrupt and that can bend or interrupt my flow of ideas. Sometimes it’s a good thing, but most of the time it’s bad. Oh, so bad! And they lie too! This is why I tend to pay more attention to someone’s behavior instead of the words that come out, especially when I try to express something.
Lately, my way of communicating is resumed to asking questions because people love to talk about themselves. They’ll do it anyway, so why shouldn’t I use this to try finding out what makes that person tick so I can satisfy my curiosity as well along with making that person feeling better?
Curiosity can be the cure for social anxiety
I noticed that when you’re curious about someone, you tend to pay attention to that person instead of yourself and that enables you to concentrate your efforts to find out more about that person instead of trying to think about what to say next. This “what to say next” behavior is actually the root cause of this social anxiety. You get to believe you don’t know how to behave because you don’t know what to talk about, but if you switch that from you to him/her, things start to be really good. The anxiety will diminish or disappear, you’ll be more appreciated for being a great listener and you’ll get to know that person better. What more can you want from a conversation?
I know it is a challenge sometimes to keep your mouth shut and don’t talk about yourself just at it is a challenge sometimes to stop thinking about what should you say next or that it’s awkward, but I believe the key for diminishing social anxiety is curiosity.
What are you curious about?
This is a great post,and I’m sure it would be useful for socially anxious people to consider … I feel lucky that I don’t suffer from this, and I’m always curious about other people and what they think and do. Being curious, trying new things – these are good things, and long as you temper the curiousity with carefulness.
True! When our curiosity breaks some boundaries and others feel uncomfortable or maybe they get hurt, it’s a sign to stop.
There’s not a lot I’m not curious about – my search history is eclectic as all hell. But it’s an amazing world, and an incredible Universe, so there’s always something to learn about. I will say the details of some of the gorier parts of life/medicine don’t really thrill me, but sometimes I have questions. Curiosity is a gift.
Curiosity is indeed a gift! Too bad not everyone receives it…
I feel like I was just reading something I wrote myself! 😆 Seriously, I couldn’t agree more with both being interests in how humans works and social anxiety! Awesome post! 👍🏻
Thank you very much for reading and for sharing your thoughts! 😀
Interesting post. I am most curious about dark energy and dark matter. Together they make up 95% of everything in the universe and we know nothing about it, other than it exists. It fascinates me that everything we know and experience is only 5% of everything. I’m curious about the unknown.
Do you ever feel fear when it comes to the unknown?
Good question! For some reason, no. I’m mostly excited to learn what I don’t know.
I constantly find myself curious about the existence of cryptid. The likes of Nessie, bigfoot, etc. There are some claims that say this is true, but due to the lack of remains, their existence remains dubious, especially given how so rarely seen they are. On the other hand, it’s highly impossible that so many people in past times who didn’t know each other fabricated similar claim, seemingly with no clear incentives. So…
There probably is some truth there…
Today I’m curious about how a good friend is doing mentally fighting cancer for the first time and if I can help them.
I’m very sorry to hear that… I hope the cancer is not too evolved…
I think a better question is what am I NOT curious about……. I love learning about a lot of things. I think I am not curious about geometry, NASA……hhhmmm I am sure there are more topics. But what I LOVE learning about is what makes people tick, interesting professions, people’s journey, beauty in the world……….What is the exact limit of characters for a comment?! LOL I think curiosity keeps us sharp and plugged into our world, our community, our life.
Awesome! Without curiosity would be no evolution 🙂
Self deception sits at the core of our brain’s functioning. Are we going to wait for it to evolve through time? Or a mutation in brain is possible? This is important coz we are already running out of time:(
I think the answer here depends on the self deception’s purpose in life.
I am curious about everything, as you probably know 🙂
I think this is great! This is what keeps our brain in shape!
As a social phobic, I’ve done a lot of work getting out and interacting with others as a personal Therapy. Your post is worth its weight in gold.
Such a simple thing: curiosity.
It makes a huge difference in being able to reach out with greater ease and enabling a deeper connection with other souls. 😊😊😊
Thank you very much for reading and for your kind words! I think it really does make a difference in people’s lives!
I am curious about almost anything. Like you, reading other’s expressions and behavior interests me too
That’s awesome! And humans are fascinating beings 🙂
Great post. I think this is why so many have social anxiety—too self focused.
As to my curiosities, same as you, the ticking of others, mentally & physically actually, they are inter related tho North America usually separated them. But my personal lists of interests is ever growing too. The list may be more manageable if you ask what I’m not curious about. And even then I’m not sure I’m not curious about curious about those things because it would fascinate me that some people are curious about them and I’d need to know why.
You mentioned a great idea here! Why people are curious about certain things… what draws them there… it’s a very interesting observation.
Great post! I am guilty of being an introvert, having social anxiety, and overall hating people in general LOL. I am also a very curious person too. This has given me something to think about. Thanks!
Thank you for reading! Please let me know how it works for you!
I am curious about many things. But, the top 3 : the hidden motive behind someone’s act or say, people’s perspective on social issue and figuring out of what am I looking for in life (am I going on the right track or not?). Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for reading! Do you feel you’re going on the right track? What makes you ask the question in the first place?
Sometimes I feel like I’m going on the right track but, sometimes I don’t. If I feel like I’m walking on “the wrong path” usually makes me uncomfortable, like “this is not myself”. That’s why I often questioning or evaluating for what I am doing, “am I doing right?” , “is this what you need in your life?” etc.
mesopotamia and the Bablonians. We owe so much to them.
One of my diagnoses is social phobia/gad and I try to actively listen to people but there’s only been a few over the years who I have genuinely liked, about six. I’m a bit misanthropic and find it hard to relate to people especialy when it comes to small talk. If someone mentions how the weather is I remain silent. And I anylyse people and look for projection and mannerisms. I like NLP so I listen to what words they use rather than the content to figure out their primary sensory modalities.
I met a woman once and on the second day she texted me saying she was watching a girl group on TV. She asked me what I was up to. I said that I was extracting Dimethyltryptamine using sodium hydroxide and we have found a well in the woods, so we were getting ready to go down it. I get it wrong on so many levels.
This is interesting! Do you try to actively listen to all people or only to those you seem to like?
It’s difficult, I try I can’t do small talk and when I meet people I can be a bit too much or blank them. I get a bit intense and deep. I have a lot of time for people and I’m patient. But if I dislike them I walk off. I have no restraint. I called my psychiatrist a privileged slave and I have to leave or my adrenaline levels start rising.
I like this
With a background in Psychology, I am always interested in our behavior as humans. Although I’ve concluded that we are product of our environment, I am still and probably will always be curious about the concept of “faith”.
Yeah, that’s something very interesting! The nature vs nurture will be always a subject for people to argue.