Like a Moth Drawn to Light

Detrimental Curiosity

Curiosity and light. Many creatures emit curiosity, or perhaps, as humans, we see this because it is innately a part of us. I understand curiosity as an essence that extends to being faced with an unknown factor and then trying to understand what this unknown is. Just like a newborn deer stepping cautiously, eying the extended hand of a hunter, trying to understand what it is presented before. The famous "curiosity killed the cat" sometimes rings true, but the lesser-known continuation of "satisfaction brought it back" shouldn't be undermined, such as a hunter throwing the gun away at being trusted by a deer.

This points out that curiosity and fascination with certain elements exist and can be detrimental (Jovanović & Brdarić, 2012). This brought the idea of how we will feel comfortable in light. Or how we are drawn to it. There are possibly a few reasons why we are drawn to light, such as how it shows surroundings in supposedly dark places or how light is often paired with warmth, which is definitely welcomed and necessary for survival. So, in a way, we are drawn to light because we depend on it.

I am not too sure why, but moths fly to lightbulbs. Perhaps it is to help them navigate, or it helps them find mates. However, purely looking at their behaviour, one could interpret their movements as curiosity towards the artificial light. It is as if they want to be near the light or head towards it.

When you look at other 'creatures', you see this phenomenon just about everywhere.

Plants strive to survive, obviously. They do this by photosynthesis, and therefore, many plants allow movements in their stems, leaves or even complete flower heads to 'look' towards sunlight. Or artificial light. While this is attributed to survival, one could view this as a flower 'looking' towards the light in curiosity, as if it wanted to reach towards the light.

Then, we have solar panels. Our artificial creature. It essentially works the same as a flower, which, at its core, is to 'look' at sunlight with the aim of generating energy. And now we have solar trackers, which allow solar panels to move and tilt to follow the sun's position. This purpose of needing to track the sun could be viewed as always 'wanting' to look at the sun and, therefore, could be categorised as a curiosity in light.

Turning this behaviour back to humans. There are many instances where curiosity latches onto us. And in many cases, light is involved. The most obvious case is the sun. Much to the worldwide sigh of scientists across the globe, many people look straight at the sun and proceed to injure their eyes, only for the reason of 'the sun looks nice today' or 'this sunset looks lovely'. And then, to the simultaneous sigh of too many people, we also proceed to look straight up at the solar eclipse without any kind of protection. Personally, I would say we do this because we are curious as to how the sun shines brightly behind the moon, curiously gazing at the beautiful circle of light in the sky. Even if it is detrimental.

Then we have sprinkles of lights in the skies, coming in the form of stars and even comets. The northern lights are hazes and hues of coloured lights somehow floating in the skies. Humans are immensely curious about anything light, and as shown in the examples before, all sorts of creatures around us also 'look' at the light in a manner not all that dissimilar from how we gaze at the skies.

But curiosity can be detrimental, even if it is satisfying. Just like how staring at the sun will injure your eyes. Or how moths play too close to the light bulb and get fried. Or plants crinkling by getting too much sunlight despite facing towards it. Or the wiring in solar panels frying with the unrelenting rays of the sun, overheating and becoming damaged beyond use. Or, for example, following the light at the end of a tunnel only to realise it's rapidly approaching train lights. Curiosity can be detrimental, like a newborn deer stepping towards a hunter's extended hand.

Jovanović, V., & Brdarić, D. (2012). Did curiosity kill the cat? Evidence from subjective well-being in adolescents. Personality and Individual Differences, 52(3), 380–384. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2011.10.043

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