Episode 395: Mario Livio
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Tracing the Roots of Curiosity: From Galileo to Feynman and More
Curiosity isn't reserved for the elite thinkers; it's a fundamental part of being human that propels us from the cradle to the cosmos. But what is the evolutionary necessity of curiosity, its manifestation in children and adults, and its intimate relationship with all of our personalities?
Mario Livio is an astrophysicist formerly at the Space Telescope Science Institute, and the author of several books. His latest works are titled Galileo: And the Science Deniers and Why?: What Makes Us Curious.
Mario and Greg discuss the educational systems and societal attitudes towards curiosity, with insights into Galileo's legacy and the synergies between science and art. Mario talks about the increasing tide of science denial and affirms the vital role of curiosity in perpetuating awe. Mario takes Greg deep into the concept of curiosity, and they explore the diverse ways in which curiosity is expressed and how it correlates with creativity and knowledge.
*unSILOed Podcast is produced by University FM.*
Episode Quotes:
What’s the difference between perpetual and epistemic curiosity?
05:30: Perceptual curiosity is the curiosity we feel when something surprises us or when something kind of doesn't agree with what we know or think we know. And it is that curiosity which, when studied on the neuroscience side, they find that the areas in the brain that are associated with conflict, or sometimes with hunger or thirst, are the ones that are activated also when you have that type of curiosity. Epistemic curiosity, on the other hand, is when we really want to learn something new or we want to understand something we didn't understand before. And there, actually, the area in the brain that's activated is the one that's activated for anticipation of a reward. You know, it's like when you sit in a theater for a play you wanted to see for a long time or when somebody offers you a piece of chocolate. So that's the one that we want people to really have more of, to be more curious epistemically.
Is curiosity necessary for creativity?
11:43: Curiosity seems to be a necessary condition for creativity, even though it is not always a sufficient condition for creativity.
Is there a universal approach to curiosity?
28:19: The best idea that I can think of is that you start with something that you know for a fact that this person is already curious about, but you find an ingenious way to move from that to the topic that you are interested in to begin with.
Science and arts can be intertwined
41:05: Scientists try to understand the universe and make predictions about it, while artists give a human, emotional response to the universe. So, in some sense, these two things are complementary to each other. That's how I see this. But I would be very sad if we had one and not the other, so I really like this complementarity.