Curiosity

Curiosity could be described as an innate basic emotion, a drive to know new things, it is common to human beings at all ages from infancy to old age. And in its development as a sense of wonder, it is curiosity that makes a human being want to learn and pursue knowledge in science and the arts. Curiosity, combined with the ability to think creatively, can eventually lead to a deeper, more abstract way of thinking which is essential to our continued development as sentient beings. It was while thinking about such ideas and in particular, the question of how to extend the reach of the Society for Curious Thought, that it occurred to me that sometimes these things are less complicated than might at first seem the case. The ultimate goal of the Society for Curious Thought is a world of curious thinkers and so, with a slight reconfiguration of the language used to set out our original core values, these can be given a new, more urgent emphasis. A wider society of curious thinkers could foster curiosity and intellectual discovery in pursuit of a better future. We share with each other our various societies and our planet, as individuals and as a wider community; our common interests are therefore well served through also sharing knowledge, developing mutual understanding and promoting cultural exchange through the essence of curious thought. A society of curious thinkers could provide clarity, offering informed opinion and curious thinking through values such as liberty of conscience and freedom of opinion on matters of a practical, speculative, scientific, moral and theological nature. A society of curious thinkers could become a community of the mind whose vital function would be to discover and articulate the functions of tomorrow, an independent association creating a fertile ambience for new knowledge in which the best of what is thought and imagined could flourish. A society of curious thinkers could foster engagement and open discussion between members of diverse communities and continuously consult with individual and collective intelligence on an experimental basis; enabling people of all creeds and religions to create a new dialogue in order to present information and ideas, to promote values of co-operation in a conscious and creative way throughout the world and so make a significant contribution to international understanding. As a supercategorical socio-cultural movement, a society of curious thinkers could encourage people to think in all directions, to reflect on their own inspirations, aspirations and experiences, to how we live now and in the future, to enable people to effect change for a better world.