7 Reasons Why Curiosity's the Next Big Thing

Tell me why!

It’s a high complement to the hard skill set,” says O’Toole. “In today’s hyper-competitive academic environment,” writes parents tend to be zoom-focused on their kids’ “hard” skill sets: reading, writing, ’rithmetic, etc. What they often don’t realize is that “soft” skills like curiosity and creativity are what give academic knowledge its power and usefulness in the real world. The truth is, curiosity and creativity are some of the most valuable skills young people can have as they prepare to enter the global economy. As professionals, they’ll have to innovate on the go, think of better ways to solve old problems, create time- and money-saving solutions, and much more.

Tell me why!

It counteracts boredom. The fact is, even the most attentive parents can’t keep their children entertained 24/7. Sooner or later, that new electronic game will get old, your youngster will become too squirmy to sit still and watch TV, or he’ll lose patience with the fact that your attention is elsewhere. And if his natural curiosity isn’t alive and kicking to redirect his interest, the dreaded B-word – boredom – will strike. And that’s when trouble often starts. A child who is bored might act out in order to bring adults’ attention back to him—hello, tears and tantrums! Over time, this child might be overly attached to Mom and Dad because he depends on them to keep him entertained, he might become a couch potato or PlayStation addict, and it’s possible that he’ll lack an overall sense of motivation throughout his life, to name just a few things.