Poll: Intellectual curiosity

SimuLord

Whom Gods Annoy
Aug 20, 2008
10,077
0
0
As those who know me well are aware, the fastest and easiest way to get me to like you and want to be your friend is to display a polymath's thirst for knowledge and be able to hold a conversation on any topic under the sun. I'm the type of person who learns stuff for fun (and my Wiki Walks are legendary, even following sources in other tabs!)

On the other end of the spectrum, there's people like my ex-wife, who when presented with new or unfamiliar knowledge, act disinterested, roll their eyes, and make fun of people like me for having such a wide knowledge base (and before you ask: "because she had nice tits.") I've also noticed that most people tend to fall in between somewhere, either totally geeked on one subject and thus unable to bring to bear their resources on another, or capable enough to learn what they have to know but disinterested in learning for its own sake.

So where on the spectrum do you all fall, and tell some stories about spectacular acts of idiocy in those around you (or admire the genius of people you've met who clearly run circles around you! I recently joked with my friend Elinor that we're getting close to celebrating 30 years of her being my intellectual superior going back to when we met in kindergarten in 1982!)
 

El Poncho

Techno Hippy will eat your soul!
May 21, 2009
5,890
0
0
I don't look for it unless someone has mentioned it and I want to learn more on it.
 

Andantil

New member
May 10, 2009
575
0
0
My goal in life is to learn all I possibly can about everything I possibly can.
 

UAProxy

New member
Sep 11, 2009
614
0
0
I pursue anything I'm interested in as far as I can, sometimes to the point of obsession. Everything else gets a 'meh'.
 

similar.squirrel

New member
Mar 28, 2009
6,021
0
0
I tend to get told things I didn't quite want to know. But in terms of things I'm interested in, there's always a list that I forget to look up. Be it music, indie games, books, videos..It's like your classic pile of 'to be read' books.
 

LogicNProportion

New member
Mar 16, 2009
2,155
0
0
I believe there should be no secrets.

HOWEVER

I like to take it slow, mastering one thing at a time. If you were to look at, let's say, my Youtube account on my Favorites section, you'll see I will go through spurts of thigns I'm interested in, and wish to see every scrap of. I also will favorite all of these videos, good or not, just to 'catelouge(sp)' them in a way.
 

Calgetorix

New member
Oct 25, 2003
170
0
0
Ursus Astrorum said:
I pursue anything I'm interested in as far as I can, sometimes to the point of obsession. Everything else gets a 'meh'.
That's how I feel about it as well. I love everything regarding physics and read up on some of it sometimes. I even tried to follow a math course on YouTube. Chances are, though, I will go through the same thing when I start on a university soon, so I abandoned it for the time being.

Economics and trade etc is not really that interesting to me.

So I guess my curiousity depends on which subject. But if it is interesting, then I'm very curious ; )
 

Starnerf

The X makes it sound cool
Jun 26, 2008
986
0
0
I generally enjoy learning about scientific stuff, but unless I find the topic interesting I really don't care about learning about it.
 

historybuff

New member
Feb 15, 2009
1,888
0
0
I am miserable at math and science but give me the history books and I'll want to get my learn on.

Also, languages. I love languages.
 

SimuLord

Whom Gods Annoy
Aug 20, 2008
10,077
0
0
RAKtheUndead said:
Let's have a brief look at the topics that I'm interested in: Most of the hard sciences, cars, computers, aeroplanes, space travel, machines in general, history (particularly military history and the history of the Presidents of the United States), politics... and that's just for starters.

Indeed, get me on any topic where one can go into details, and I'll usually have some degree of knowledge about it. Unfortunately, most people get me constrained into talking about computers or some topic that they usually find hideously boring. It's really disappointing, because I've never set out to be a single-minded sort of person - but people tend to hear the worst side of me. I just wish that most other people's discussions didn't tend towards pop culture which I'm uninterested in, or any of those other horribly mundane and boring topics that get thrown around.
Pop culture is the scourge of humanity, and the one subject on which I'm completely unable to converse (unless it's pop culture from 1995 or before, in which case it's "what I grew up on" and I get geek about it---especially with fellow late Gen-Xers.)
 

APPCRASH

New member
Mar 30, 2009
1,479
0
0
I learn what I need to get by and fulfill my obligations to the fullest. Smart people ask too many questions.
 

Kollega

New member
Jun 5, 2009
5,161
0
0
If something strikes me as even mildly intresting, i'll grind it with my nose untill i know everything on the subject.
 

Lavi

New member
Sep 20, 2008
692
0
0
Knowledge is a house of cards. You built it up by adding one piece on top of another until one piece makes the whole thing collapse. You start building it up again except better knowing how that next card fits in the whole house.
 

Puzzles

New member
Aug 9, 2009
793
0
0
Im a Jack of all trades. My attention span limits my ability to become focused on one subject and excell greatly in it, so instead I am curious about a wide range of topics and end up looking into them.
 

Kaboose the Moose

New member
Feb 15, 2009
3,842
0
0
I have a lot of interests in life and therefore I have a of things to be curious about. However, I won't pursue everything under the sun because somethings are not worth my time.
 

Xeros

New member
Aug 13, 2008
1,940
0
0
If it really strikes my interest I'll read all there is to read about it. If it doesn't, I'll move on, not thinking a second thought about it.
 

Mozared

New member
Mar 26, 2009
1,607
0
0
I'm somewhere between 'extremely' and 'focused'. I don't want to know "everything there is to know" about everything, but I do want "to know" about everything. I generally want to understand how something works, though I only pursue the bare minimums. For example, one interest I had was the biological system of osmosis, but I feel no need to know anything beyond "the idea of osmosis is that fluids always attempt to create a perfect relative balance".