Like a Moth to a Flame, a Man to his Chains
The fundamental nature of curiosity ironically peaked my own curiosity since exploring the phenomenon in animals never much occurred to me. Curiosity is an aspect of humanity almost coveted. We praise ourselves for being curious and in many ways it blinds us to how other creatures may be curious, and furthermore what this may mean on the nature of being curious at all.
Curiosity is generally accepted to give creatures a survival advantage, meaning more curious animals tend to pass on their curious genes. What is that advantage? Well, animals may intentionally search for new sources of food, new types of food, safer places to roost, nest, and rear their young. They may also do this unintentionally. A curious little creature who simply enjoys the act wandering his neighbourhood, looking for new territory, is more likely to find food sources, saving themselves from running out if they had remained put.
But can curiosity be too dangerous?
I loved the examples Dewi described and I was reminded of one famous example; the Dodo.
The dodo bird, native to the island of Mauritius, had no natural predators. It grew fat, made nests on the floor, and ate fallen fruit; it had an easy life. Dutch and Portugese sailors even described the bird as curious, but also include “foolish” and “stupid” among their adjectives. This was mainly due to the birds lack of ‘survival instinct’ regarding the sailors. The dodo would wander right up to their feet. The dodo would even sometimes watch its fellow avion be killed, just to saunter up naively and investigate the carcass.
This idea of detrimental curiosity can be found in humans as well. Marie Curie, Magellan, the seven passengers of the Challenger rocket; F. Richard Scobee, Michael Smith, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnik, Gregory Jarvis, Christa McAuliffe. Human curiosity has driven countless people to expose themselves to deadly chemicals and pathogens, to venture into oceans, caves, and the vastness of space, all in search of the unknown. All in the name of curiosity.
Curiosity is a coin with two sides; one that takes us to the moon, and one that sends us crashing back down to earth.
But what about a creature with zero curiosity?
While some creatures definitely explore more than others, almost all explore to some extent. Curiosity, whether fueled by hunger, lust, or boredom, motivates creatures to roam. To compliment Dewi’s artificial creature I wanted to propose a creature completely complacent with life, regardless of the resources available to it, the state of its welfare and wellbeing, irrespective of what is happening around it.
The idea was inspired by the old story, Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave”. What if this creature is a denison of the wretched cave, with the outer world obfuscated. The glimmering, dancing lights and shadows are all this creature needs to be satisfied with life. The outer world in this scenario is simply the idea of Beyond. The yearn for more. The acknowledgement that more exists beyond what we see, hear, touch, and smell. That our senses are limited but also out environment. A world persists outside of our locale.
Quick Summary | Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave”
Imagine a scenario wherein a group of unfortunate individuals are chained inside a cave with the entrance completely unseeable. These individuals, back turned to a further hidden entrance, have never seen outside. In fact, they do not know that a world beyond the cave exists. Their world is entirely composed of shadows. Light from the entrance casts shadows of creatures, objects, and people that pass between the entrance and the back wall (still entirely out of sight of the prisoners).
One fateful day, an individual is freed. They leave the cave and see the true reality of the world for the first time. They see the world is not just 2-dimensional, black-and-white images against a wall but colorful, diverse, 3-dimensional beings, phenomena, and more. This newly freed mind returns to the cave to tell the others what he has been enlightened to but he is met with scoffs, laughs, and jeers. The idea of their being an entirely new, unimaginable world is so hard to accept they reject the claim and him. They accept their world for it is all they have ever known, but furthermore they reject any claim that their world may be false. They do not wonder if there could be more.
What would a creature, happy in its proverbial chains be like? A creature that turns away from sensory inputs, always trying to return to its original point. That fears food, the sun, or its charger. That rejects any attempt made to expand its lifespan, batterylife, memory, information etc. It spits out sd cards, unplugs its charger, and turns away from lights and sounds.