curiosity

One of the great, unsung virtues. Curiosity brought the world math, physics--in fact all sciences--and of course cryptanalysis, to name a few things. Insofar as curiosity leads to productivity, personal accomplishment, and satisfaction, it seems that it could very easily be classed as a virtue, or at the very least a Good Thing.

Yet this is not the general response I receive. The most common response is "who cares?", an incredulous "why should I know?", or some variation upon the same theme. From this I conclude that curiosity is at best under-appreciated, at worst, derided as a foolish pursuit. Curiosity does not, at least within the general population hold the status it deserves.

Why is this, then? My first theory is that our society has encouraged transparency in all things, to make tasks as effortless and simple as concievably possible; that other things should take care of all the unpleasant work and procceed to the end with all due haste. Curiosity, of course, leads one to desire to examine that which lies beneath, and have not so much transparency. Combined with a general current of apathy within society, this would lead to the thesis that those who are curiosity leads to more work, therefore curiosity is foolish. Valid, perhaps, but only within an "ease dominant" value system. And one that does work 99 times out of 100, in all fairness. It's just that 1 time in 100 that's a real bugger if one is used to perfect execution the first time.

The other potential culprit I see is a general feeling that certain things "don't matter." Which is daft--everything tends to matter in the long run; little things often escalate into distressingly big things without anyone knowing how or why. Of course, "not mattering" is often connected with a sense of personal importance. Obvious, considering that hobbies are often personal pursuits, but pernicious in the respect that personal importance becomes less and less as things become more complex and transparent, but that leads to the above argument, and so I digress. Once something does matter enough, steps will be taken to address the curiosity, but this is where I begin to fear the state of society: given the responses, as stated above, to general curious inquiries, society seems, as a whole, to stifle inquiry and curiosity, perpetuating a cycle of not asking questions.

Thus I send out a request: ask all the questions you can, and perhaps one truly interesting but slightly ridiculous question every day. Perhaps people will become more willing to ask their own questions, and curiosity will assume its proper place.

Curiosity, sometimes referred to as the Mars Science Laboratory, is an unmanned vehicle that is currently exploring the surface of Mars. Curiosity is much like the successful twins Spirit and Opportunity, being a multiwheeled vehicle able to navigate and explore over a large area, but is even larger, being the size and weight of an automobile.

Curiosity has six wheels, is nine feet long, has a nuclear battery and ten scientific instruments. The scientific instrument most often mentioned is a laser/spectroscope combination that will be able to vaporize small pieces of the Martian surface, and then analyze their chemical composition, including possible signs of complex organic molecules that could give evidence of past Martian life. The instrument that is now mostly in use is a "simple" camera, that has been broadcasting back color, high resolution pictures of the Martian surface.

Perhaps even more important than what Curiosity can do, is the technical ingenuity of getting it to the surface of Mars. Because it was much bigger (and complicated, and expensive) than past wheeled vehicles sent to the surface of Mars, it needed a different delivery method. This consisted of a series of methods, used to slow down the craft in the thin Martian atmosphere. From an initial velocity of 26,000 miles per hour, a heat shield, parachute and sky crane slowed Curiosity down to a leisurely 2 miles per hour when it reached its destination in Gale Crater. Since Mars is a dozen light minutes from earth, the craft had to make its final approach using only its flight programming, since there would have been nearly a half-hour delay in communicating instructions to the craft. The period right before the landing of the craft was anxious, since a slight miscalculation could have led to a 2.5 billion dollar crater on the ground. Luckily, however, the craft landed without the slightest problem.

As of the current writing, Curiosity has been moving around for ten days, and has not even begin to use its more fancy equipment. When it does, it will probably bring back information that will advance several fields of science greatly. Looking at another planet's composition will help us understand earth's own geochemical cycles, as well as astronomic questions of how planets are formed. Of course, the greatest reward would be good evidence for past or current life on Mars.

The public and media reaction to Curiosity's landing was greater than many had anticipated. The United States space program doesn't have anywhere near the popularity it did during the Apollo Program or even the beginning of the space shuttle era. Most missions have been too technical and too obscure to capture much mass attention. However, the Curiosity mission, perhaps due to how daring it was, did. Soon after it landed, and its first grainy pictures were transmitted back to earth, the NASA website got so many hits that it couldn't keep up. And in spite of a fairy busy news week, with a presidential election and The Olympics, Curiosity was a top story in the news. The success of Curiosity gave a boost of optimism to many people.

Curiosity has had a good run so far, and hopefully it will continue to produce good results. Also the success of the complex Curiosity landing procedure will encourage NASA to look at even more ambitious missions to Mars, including a manned mission.

Her mother carried Curiosity into the coffee shop

on her hip

curly hair and big brown eyes

checking out the crowd

they were sponges

soaking everything in 

At a small table they shared a muffin 

though most of the customers did not notice 

                                                             most, but not all  

Cu`ri*os"i*ty (k?`r?-?s"?-t?), n.; pl. Curiosities (-tz). [OE. curiouste, curiosite, OF. curioset'e, curiosit'e, F. curiosit, fr. L. curiositas, fr. curiosus. See Currious, and cf. Curio.]

1.

The state or quality or being curious; nicety; accuracy; exactness; elaboration.

Bacon.

When thou wast in thy gilt and thy perfume, they mocked thee for too much curiosity. Shak.

A screen accurately cut in tapiary work . . . with great curiosity. Evelin.

2.

Disposition to inquire, investigate, or seek after knowledge; a desire to gratify the mind with new information or objects of interest; inquisitiveness.

Milton.

3.

That which is curious, or fitted to excite or reward attention.

We took a ramble together to see the curiosities of this great town. Addison.

There hath been practiced also a curiosity, to set a tree upon the north side of a wall, and, at a little hieght, to draw it through the wall, etc. Bacon.

© Webster 1913.