“I call it ‘epistemic inequality’: access to knowledge is very constrained.” ~ Jaison Manjaly
Have you ever had the experience of coming upon something that feels like an embodiment of the core of your very being, that just happens to be on the other side of the planet?
That’s one way to describe how I felt when I first learned of The Curiosity Lab at IIT Gandhinagar, in western India.
The Curiosity Lab studies factors that generate, sustain and foster curiosity. The Lab is designed as an interdisciplinary space that promotes research and outreach initiatives specifically around curiosity. The Lab takes on systemic inequalities, popular notions of what does and doesn’t support curiosity, and generally make it their business to encourage curiosity at every turn.
Sounds like my kind of place, right?
Jaison Manjaly is Jasubhai Memorial Chair Professor of Philosophy and Cognitive Science at IIT Gandhinagar. His research interests include curiosity, education, and moral cognition. He is the Principal Investigator of The Curiosity Lab.
Sounds like my kind of guy…
“Curiosity is a disposition, an urge to know, to bridge an information gap. It can also be a habit. It is not a cognitive fundamental fact, it is a layered disposition, which is why there are so many definitions of curiosity!”
Listen to Choose to be Curious #194: The Curiosity Lab, with Jaison Manjaly
This show marks the start of the eighth year of these Choose to be Curious curiosity conversations, conversations that have taken me around the globe and deep into my own being. Thank you, dear listeners, for joining me on this curiosity adventure!
A big shout-out to all the Pacifica Radio Network stations* that have picked up Choose to be Curious in the last few months. It’s truly an honor to be part of so many diverse communities across the county. Thank you for keeping independent media alive and kicking! Community radio is a great curiosity lab of its own, isn’t it?
As you go through your day, what new perspectives pique your curiosity? Where might you have some “micro behavioral intervention” of your own?
Check out The Curiosity Lab at IIT Gandhinagar.
Theme music by Sean Balick. “Glass Beads” by the Balloonist, via Blue Dot Sessions.
You can subscribe to Choose to be Curious on iTunes and Spotify.
Wear your curiosity on your sleeve. Check out the Choose to be Curious shop!
*Out and about? I hope you’ll listen to these great local radio stations and that you’ll support independent non-commercial community radio wherever you are. Do you know a local station that should be carrying Choose to be Curious? Let me know — or better yet: let them know!
KCEI 90.1 FM – Taos, NM – https://www.culturalenergy.org
KCIW 100.7 FM – Brookings, OR – https://kciw.org
KEPJ 96.5 FM – San Antonio, TX – https://esperanzacenter.org/esperanza-projects/radio-esperanza/
KMRE 102.3 FM – Bellingham, WA – https://kmre.org
KPSQ 97.3 FM – Fayetteville, AR – https://www.kpsq.org
KTWH 99.5 FM – Two Harbors, MN – https://ktwh.org
KXCR 90.7 FM – Florence, OR – https://www.kxcr.net
WMTB 96.7 FM – St. Petersburg, FL – https://radiostpete.com
WPVM 103.7 FM – Asheville, NC – http://www.wpvmfm.org
WRWK 93.9 FM – Midlothian, VA – https://theworkfm.org
WWSX 99.1 FM – Rehoboth Beach, DE – https://www.radiorehoboth.com <– debuting this week!
