CURIOUS MINDS: What good is curiosity?
In conversation with Perry Zurn
BRAINLAND · Ken Barrett
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Show Notes
In this podcast philosopher Perry Zurn discusses ‘Curious Minds’, the book he wrote with his twin Danni Bassett. We talk about their unusual upbinging, home schooled in a large family that encouraged curiosity, then negotiating the more restrictive world of academia. They view curiosity as ‘edgework’, an exploration of connections between ‘nodes’ of information. We discuss ‘busybodies’,’ hunters’ and ‘dancers’. three curious behaviours they identified, and research evidence that supports them. The effect of language on curiosity gets a mention (Eg differences between First Nation and modern languages), and how curiosity plays out in non-verbal domains (such a sport and visual art) with a diversion into the role of the hippocampus in remembering both physical and conceptual space (such as between related words). After an appreciation of Virginia Woolf, we touch on possible dangers of curiosity, such as supporting the idea of alternative realities and the fake news that builds them, before talking about curious animals.
Participants:
Perry Zane is Visiting Associate Professor of Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Cornell University and Provost Associate Professor of Philosophy at American University
https://www.perryzurn.com/projects
Ken Barrett visual artist, writer and former neuropsychiatrist.http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.uk/
The book discussed:
https://www.amazon.com/Curious-Minds-Connection-Perry-Zurn/dp/0262047039
Opening and closing music: Prelude to Brainland the opera by Stephen Brown.
Brainland the opera website: www.brainlandtheopera.co.uk
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Sketch by KB.
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