TRANSCRIPT:

I would suggest that curiosity is thinking beyond what you normally think about. For instance, you are climbing a mountain and you see a ridge. Curiosity to me is, what is beyond that ridge and how am I going to get to it? And what does it look like? And is it going to be something that is going to be scary? Is it going to be something interesting? I know it will be exciting. So I guess curiosity to me is excitement beyond my thought process

TRANSCRIPT:

Curiosity to me is simply asking a question. It's moving around the world, challenging preconceived notions and questioning why we do something the way we do. It's questioning why we react a certain way. I think one of my favorite things about the human species is that we're constantly trying to figure ourselves out. And I love the idea of neurosurgery and neuroscience, looking at a brain and trying to understand it.

I'm also Jewish, and a tenet of Judaism is to always question something. So I think that's very much a part of my upbringing. But just as a filmmaker and as someone who exists in the world, I think my viewpoint is to be curious. My parents both instilled that in me, and certainly my husband and my children instill that in me, because they have the most beautiful sense of curiosity. And I think the secret to staying vital in this world is to always have that lens.

TRANSCRIPT:

That’s a very good question; and while  I am not sure this is the dictionary definition, curiosity, for me, is the feeling of being bugged.  I think of it like science, but it is much broader than a science.  As a scientist, to think of it as the essence of science, to say, "That's odd." So the way I approach the world is I have models. I have models of all the people who I interact with; I have models for how gravity works and how computers work.

I think I understand things, and of course I strive for a perfect understanding [of things], so I am constantly surprised. What I love and what I think of as curiosity is the moment where the world gives me a piece of data -- I see something, I hear about something, and it doesn't fit the model that I have for the world, and occasionally, the data was mistaken, but usually the right answer is I need to adjust my models.  That's the learning moment.

If you don't have curiosity, then you won't go do that learning, and you won't be bothered that your model is broken -- that is what I think curiosity is. It is the desire to iterate your model of the world.

TRANSCRIPT:

Curiosity can be very good or very bad. It depends what you do with it and for what reason. You cannot live without curiosity, without anticipation, without interrogation. On the other hand, if you use curiosity just for silly things – it can happen – then why go on?

TRANSCRIPT:

Curiosity is trying to find answers to the whys that we've asked and continue to ask. It's never having to grow up. It's being a child and trying to discover and figure it out.

TRANSCRIPT:

Science is the engine of prosperity, but the rocket fuel that drives this engine that powers it up is curiosity. Curiosity is what makes a scientist tick. You ask a scientist, "Why are you doing this? Why are you looking at the question of the universe, and what is the smallest ingredient of matter?" It's curiosity that drives us.

TRANSCRIPT:

Hmm, that's a curious question. Curiosity to me, at least, is the desire to find out what's happening? Why? For what reason? What the implications are. I'm a curious person by nature. That's why I do the work that I do.

TRANSCRIPT:

I think it is being attracted to something in your experience that really captures your attention and invites explanation.

More information on Dr. Weil