Curiosity

People are very different from one another, in many different aspects. Although there are many different traits, some of them tend to correlate. I've found lately that I see a strong correlation between curiosity and intelligence. 

What really disappoints me, is that education systems, in their task of preparing the young for their lives, seem to focus very little on curiosity, and usually has the opposite effect on students. Students don't look for the interesting, the unique, but rather for the way to accomplish given tasks. Now, there is value in that. I don't think everyone should only be exploring and discovering niche fields and ignoring general education in predetermined societal areas. Yet it seems to me that the benign is treated with too much importance. 

Imagine a teacher telling their students why they should study what they are studying. Imagine reminding them when they forget. Imagine making it interesting, and if things aren't interesting, at least having it be relevant. Things that aren't piquing curiosity, relevant to the general population/society, or developing skills for further materials - those just don't seem to cut it. 

I believe all of this is possible, if we had good, strong teachers. Ones that could accelerate the slow trundling along of normal school life, leading children past the boring and conventional into the realms of their interest. The bright would most definitely benefit from this, while the less gifted would get more attention once the bright moved on to doing their own thing.

Maybe this is something I should try by volunteering. I'll make sure I do something about it once COVID is on it's way out. 

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