What is Curiosity: Definition and 79 Discussions

Curiosity (from Latin cūriōsitās, from cūriōsus "careful, diligent, curious", akin to cura "care") is a quality related to inquisitive thinking such as exploration, investigation, and learning, evident by observation in humans and other animals. Curiosity is heavily associated with all aspects of human development, in which derives the process of learning and desire to acquire knowledge and skill.The term curiosity can also be used to denote the behavior or emotion of being curious, in regard to the desire to gain knowledge or information. Curiosity as a behavior and emotion is attributed over millennia as the driving force behind not only human development, but developments in science, language, and industry.

View More On Wikipedia.org
Recent contents Top users
  1. J

    NASA Who's staying awake to watch NASA's coverage of the Curiosity landing?

    Curiosity will hopefully land safely on Mars at 1:31am EDT, after "Seven Minutes of Terror" and NASA TV will be broadcasting a a show for this starting at 11pm EDT at http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/ustream.html I'm more excited and anxious about this than I have been for every Olympic...
  2. J

    Got doubts about Curiosity surviving Mars landing

    That landing manouever sounds too complicated, too susciptable to errors. But surely they know more than me and feel it's the best way. Still, I think it will fail. That's my prediction. Wasn't there a less error-prone way of setting down on the surface? Maybe though it was a budget issue.
  3. W

    Is the schooling necessary to satisfy my curiosity?

    Is the schooling necessary to satisfy my curiosity?? I'm very curious about fractals (how they make up nature), quantum physics and string theory. I'm currently a psychology major and have taken 0 mathematics courses so far in college. I would love to study this material in depth but is it...
  4. D

    Talk at the Speed of Sound: Can 2 People Chat?

    If two people where traveling above the speed of sound in a ship, could they talk to each other?
  5. D

    Out of curiosity how is the contact force forumla derived?

    Hello! I know that the contact force formula is Fc = F(m2/(m1+m2)) but I was wondering, how did this equation come into being? How is it derived? No this is not a homework question, I was just curious to know. Thanks!
  6. P

    Stephen Hawking on Discovery's curiosity

    Stephen Hawking on Discovery's "curiosity" I recently watched Stephen Hawking on Discovery's "Curiosity" and found his assertion that a grand designer could not exist based on the logic that there was no time before the big bang troubling.(Due to the fact that the universe before the big bang...
  7. I

    Curiosity about complete basis

    curiosity about "complete" basis Hi In QM books , people talk about complete basis. I was checking some linear algebra books. Of course , we have a concept of basis in linear algebra. But these books nowhere talk about "complete" basis. Maybe math people have some more technical term for...
  8. marcus

    New Mars rover launch 2011 (Curiosity, YouTube, eta August 2012))

    Beautiful animation. Landing system is novel and elegant. Hovering rocket platform lowers the vehicle on a cable to the the ground and then goes away. A lot of the deceleration work at Mars is done by the planet's atmosphere, saving fuel weight. Great stuff. Launch of "Curiosity" is...
  9. D

    Kill my curiosity - Rolling a ball down a ramp, friction or no friction?

    Hello people, I have 2 scenario's. One is a ball rolling down a ramp with friction, onto pavement with friction. The other is a ball rolling down a ramp without friction, onto pavement with friction. Everything between them is the same except for the friction. I think that having no...
  10. R

    Programs Questions About PhDs: What's the Process and How Long Does it Take?

    I heard that there's a lot of people with a PhD here, and I was curious about that, so I figure this would be the best place to ask. I have just a few questions for the Americans here that have PhDs, regarding the process required to get one. 1. How long is it supposed to take? 2. Is it...
  11. J

    Can Rediscovering Curiosity Help Achieve Academic Dreams?

    I'm afraid whether this place is best to post my question.But i need a help as soon as possible.At first,i was very curious to know things or to investigate more about the world. Studying was not at all a burden for me. It was almost a spontanoeus process that i used to read books and i didn't...
  12. J

    Exploring the Speed of Light: A 15-Year-Old's Curiosity

    Hello, I just had a weird thought and would like some clarification. Keep in mind I'm only 15 years old, and I have had NO courses in physics. I'm VERY ignorant and would like an explanation. If light is constant, then how do we know the true speed of light? If Earth moves at x speed this way...
  13. A

    Questions on Temperature and Movement - Akapink

    i recently watched a documentary and they said that the temperature during the big bang was billions of degrees. Could that be true? Does this mean that temperature doesent have a limit like let's say it can't go beyond a certain number? also does it have any point of minimum value ? also i...
  14. Char. Limit

    Spontaneous Decomposition of 1,3-Cyclohexadiene: Curiosity or Reality?

    I was wondering if 1,3-Cyclohexadiene would spontaneously decompose into the more stable benzene + hydrogen gas. Would it?
  15. M

    Integrals of Trig Powers: Sin^2dx and Cos^2dx

    The calculus book places an emphasis on multiple powers of trig functions in the book. Does anyone here really know what the integral of sin^2dx is? What about the integral of cos^2dx is? I don't think I ve actually ever seen it.
  16. T

    Bats Flying in Dark Cave: What Happens with a Mirror?

    Its Halloween, which got me thinking about bats and how they can fly around in the dark without hitting anything. what would happen if you put a big mirror in the cave with the bats? what does a mirror do to their sonar?
  17. B

    Working Alone or Together: How Do Students Approach Homework Problems?

    On average , would most of you work on homework problems by yourselves(be it, mechanics, linear algebra, abstract algebra , or calculus , or any other technical subject) , or do most of you worked together on homework problems. Do any of you find it impossible to work on homework problems by...
  18. S

    Medical Why do we Ace(arrogance, curiosity, and enthusiam)?

    A- why do we feel arrogant? C- Sometimes, the we don't care, other times, we seek to unmistify. Why? E- I like to call it the level of mental energy. What is it biologically, and does it have a limit? How does it initiates?
  19. D

    A lower level question of curiosity.

    Hello, I am a high school student, and I am a new member to this forum. I was wondering how to find the area under the graph of one sin arc without using calculus. The problem comes from something one of my friends gave me. The question shows a picture with some rectangles in the space...
  20. D

    Questions out of curiosity… Enlighten me please

    These questions just popped out of my head while we were gazing the sky with my friend… Can anyone please help me? 1. Are the shapes of the moon likely to be visible in the morning than in the evening? If it is, then where is the sky? 2. Are the shapes of the moon likely to be visible in the...
  21. A

    Solid State Curiosity: Infraband Non-Radiative Transitions

    :rolleyes: Is a conductive movement of an electron inside a band a particular infraband non-radiative transition?
  22. W

    Ask Anything & Get Answers: Unlock Your Curiosity

    Ask me absolutely any question about anything you like (me?) you would like to know the answer to and I'll tell you the best of my abilities!
  23. G

    Acceleration Calculation: 8s to 12s, 64m

    I have a question just out of curiosity, say that a car is driving along and as it travels, I start to measure the distance from when the car has traveled 8 seconds to 12 seconds, and find out that it is 64 meters. I do not know the distance it traveled before I started to measure(ie. before...
  24. I

    Can Curiosity in Physics Lead to a Deeper Understanding?

    I love this site, it's so good, I'm so glad I found it! I only joined to just ask one question cos in class I suddenly got worried I was being expanded and it's a night class so the teacher hasn't got time to indulge in my compulsive fantasies so I joined and asked and now I'm totally hooked on...
  25. D

    Representing a permutation, and a curiosity

    I was recently writing a program that needed to encode a permutation into a single integer number (an index, from 0 to n! - 1). The program transformed the permutation (f.i., of 5 numbers) into a "series of indexes", in the ranges [0..4], [0..3], [0..2], [0..1], 4 indexes in total (one...
  26. W

    Why is the Pressure Drop Uneven in Two Equal Impedance Tubes?

    Hi All, I've come across something that surprised me but I'm sure has a logical explanation... I have a two small ID tubes that have exactly equal impedance to air flow (for the purposes of the discussion the flow is 2ml/min). I connect them in series with one end of the system exposed...
  27. P

    How Can I Simulate a Star Collision on a Computer?

    Anyone here knows how to simulate a star collision using computer ? Thank you,
  28. V

    Cell question, just because of my curiosity

    Is there any organism that has only one cell ? If any, what is that ? and how can it lead its life ? Does it need to develop whereas it is undividable ? Thanks Regards,
  29. Kerrie

    Exploring Humanity's Unquenchable Curiosity: Why We Ask 'Why?

    why are humans so intent on knowing why? what drives our curiosity, and why don't animals have the same drive?
Back
Top