Curiosity

may have killed the cat; more likely
the cat was just unlucky, or else curious
to see what death was like, having no cause
to go on licking paws, or fathering
litter on litter of kittens, predictably.

Nevertheless, to be curious
is dangerous enough. To distrust
what is always said, what seems,
to ask odd questions, interfere in dreams,
leave home, smell rats, have hunches,
do not endear cats to those doggy circles
where well-smelt baskets, suitable wives, good lunches
are the order of things, and where prevails
much wagging of incurious heads and tails.

Face it. Curiosity
will not cause us to die-
only lack of it will. Never to see
the other side of the hill
or that improbable country
where living is an idyll
(although a probable hell)
would kill us all.
Only the curious
have, if they live, a tale
worth telling at all.

Dogs say cats love too much, are irresponsible,
are changeable, marry too many wives,
desert their children, chill all dinner tables
with tales of their nine lives.
Well, they are lucky. Let them be
nine-lived and contradictory,
curious enough to change, prepared to pay
the cat price, which is to die
and die again and again,
each time with no less pain.
A cat minority of one
is all that can be counted on
to tell the truth. And what cats have to tell
on each return from hell
is this: dying is what the living do,
dying is what the loving do,
and dead dogs are those who do not know
that dying is what, to live, each has to do.

Alistair Read

Hat tip to Tanneke for sharing this with me. I highlighted the bits which I thought had particular relevance for businesses and individuals who want to be more innovative.

Innovation requires curiosity. And has definite attendant risk and scary moments. It is also the stuff of living; not just existing.

2 comments on “Curiosity”

1. Robert Rath said:
   

   Curiosity, nine lives (or as many more as required) and an open willingness to explore and share. These are as dear to us as they seem to be for our feline friends.

   The world watches in curious wonder as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is brought on-line with its promise of showing us the very nature of our existence. This is human curiosity at work on a grand scale.

   Consider how we have collectively co-operated together on a single endeavour spending nearly 5 billion dollars on our human curiosity. Sure the money comes unashamedly from business investment. Sure there will be fantastic commercial rewards as a result.

   However, consider this; the LHC and endeavours like it would simply not exist if it were not for the undeniable fact that being curious is as much a part or our nature as it is for cats.

   Robert Rath - http://www.innovation-mentor.com

   
   11 September 2008 at 3:12 pm
2. Zern said:
   

   Thanks Robert, for bringing the Large Hadron Collider success story into this so beautifully.

   Science and its unending search for knowledge and understanding is a more “formalised”, expression of our innate curiosity – to ask why and then go look for the answers. And to constantly review those answers in light of new insights.

   Even though curiosity is what made us successful as a species, we still appear to have an uncomfortable relationship with it. There is always a segment within our society that is opposed to (too much) curiosity, exploration and discovery. From the parent who admonishes a child for colouring outside the lines, to those bastions of organised religions that actively (and sometimes violently) enforce unthinking and mute acquiescence.

   
   14 September 2008 at 2:00 am

Leave a Comment

Name (required)

Mail (will not be published) (required)

Website

Notify me of followup comments via e-mail