There are many examples of curiosity presented across the animal kingdom – magpies, crows, monkeys are just a few – but when we look at ourselves that is where curiosity comes into its own, so to speak. In fact without curiosity we would not be where we are today; most probably not even here and those that were here would still be cave dwellers.
Curiosity is the drive that has made homo sapiens progress. It has taken us about 100,000 years, through periods such as the Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age and more to reach our present stage of perfection. How have we managed that? Had we been more like the rest of the animal kingdom then we could not have progressed.
We understand a bit about our vital organs, some more than others and some because we need medical intervention, but the one organ we have yet to get to grips with is our brain. Our own very personal computer; and it ‘runs’ on electricity. The ‘discovery’ of electricity had to wait until about 400 years ago although people had experienced it having had shocks from various fish species throughout millennia.
Now we understand that the electrical activity within our brain is an essential part of how our brain works. We also know that, apart from a general difference in size, male and female brains are almost identical. Almost but not quite, and therein lies a lot more interest.
The brain is regarded in two spheres, left and right. Male and female have the same sections within both spheres and now some recent scientific studies have revealed one very interesting difference. It involves all those complex connections between the synapses and now opens up the field to greater understanding of the essential differences between male and female.
Whereas in the male brain the predominance of those connections appears to be within the left and right spheres, in the female brain there is a far greater occurrence of connections between left and right spheres. We could look at this as being ‘vertical’ connections in the male brain and lateral in the female one. How very interesting this now makes us think about our predilection for regarding the female of our species as being a lateral thinker.
Little did we know just how close to the truth we might be. But male or female both depend upon curiosity for our existence. It is not just the why that matters but following that to find either the answer or another why to explore. Whatever we do in life it is that essential curiosity that eggs us on, to turn the next corner, to explore the unknown and to wonder.
We may imagine prehistoric man looking up at the sky, by day and by night, wondering what it was he saw and hence being curious to find out. Today, we are privileged to know so much and be grateful that the why of curiosity has over time enabled us to enjoy our current lifestyles.
Peter Bray
