The case of Curiosity and The Cat
As I start the year with a head full of questions, I wonder why it is that they get such a bad rep.
The world is full of unanswered questions but perhaps even more so with unasked questions. Those ones we are scared to touch because we all know we don’t want to hear the answer and somethings (a lot of things) are better left alone.
But where did this idea come from? Because If we are scared of asking questions, and instead choose to forget our childhood curiosity making way for adult ‘knowing’ then what happens when we don’t actually know?
I’ve decided Curiosity has a bad rep, and it all comes down to that damn accusation about it and The Cat.
So today I want to smash the case wide open. Did Curiosity really kill The Cat? Or given the inadequate forensic science at the time did Curiosity take the fall for someone and was in fact nothing to do with fate of the poor Cat?
Stories matter. They are the cautionary tale, or the inspiring one. They remind us of what is ok and not ok. So, if we want to change the world, we need to change the story.
Ok, ok so maybe we are not thinking that big. World changing is a lot for a Friday. But maybe we could change the world for curiosity who has wrongfully been under house arrest this whole time.
People of the Jury I present to you the case of Curiosity and The Cat…
This whole time Curiosity has been painted as some sort of dangerous thing, when in fact it has been behind some of the greatest aspects of human experience.
Exhibit A
Without Curiosity we would not have great works of art; imagine a world without Romeo and Juliet, the Mona Lisa, Toy Story 2. It’s not worth thinking about is it.
Exhibit B
Or what about scientific breakthrough, without Curiosity we wouldn’t have the Hadron Collider, a cure for Polio or even Ice Cream (now you are getting really worried, right).
Exhibit C
Not to mention Curiosity is the gateway to healing and reconciliation. Without open curious conversations we wouldn’t have moved beyond apartheids, broken communities or deep prejudices.
So, you tell me? Bad? Or simply bad timing? Because those examples sound to me like the work of some kind of superhero rather than a villain.
So, what if the dangerous thing wasn’t Curiosity but in fact the absence of it?
Curiosity is only dangerous If you like the status quo, and I don’t know about you, but I stopped listening to that band years ago.
Which makes me question… Have we got it wrong all of these years?
The story seems very convenient to me. Did anyone ever do their research on this so called ‘The Cat’ or its owner for that matter? The body was never found… And we don’t know who inherited The Cat’s estate when he died. So, I ask you, who had to benefit from The Cat’s death? Certainly not Curiosity. No. Which leads me to two hypothesis:
The Cats owner (who for legal reasons we will call Terry) and Status Quo realising the potential power of Curiosity to change the world, built a plot to sully its name, and The Cat was just collateral damage.
Terry, not the sharpest knife in the draw, gave The Cat some cat food with nuts in, without realising that The Cat had a nut allergy. And so, whilst The Cat was rooting around in the garden, like cats do, it died. Of a nut allergy. Thereby looking like Curiosity had killed it when in fact it was a nut.
Both of these seem far more likely to me than Curiosity wilfully having it out for The Cat. Which is why I am petitioning that it is time we free Curiosity from house arrest and start letting it back into our everyday lives.
Curiosity is a pretty valuable thing to the world. And not just because of artistic creation, scientific discovery and some much-needed healing resolution. But for the everyday value that it can offer to us as individuals.
I know I am biased, I overthink and over question, so of course I am looking to validate my own bad habits. And as Curiosities unofficial legal aid I’ve clearly taken a side. BUT, (and that’s a big but – you can see because I wrote it in capitals) I do think that Curiosity and asking questions is what helps us grow. It’s what helps us keep an open mind to what is in front of us, to connect better with people and allow for different opinions. To ultimately allow the world to be as it is.
It means we can move from asking ‘WHY ME?!” in a rhetorical state of despair on a Tuesday morning – Like this 👇
To asking the same thing with our friend Curiosity and find out something new. Like this 👇
Instead of being scared of the questions, we become empowered by them.
Any question asked with grace is a possibility for change. For newness.
So, if we can get beyond getting scared of the answer (the one we already know by the way), we might find it isn’t the monster we thought it was. Curiosity is not hiding under the bed waiting to get us just like it did The Cat. It is actually a pretty good ally for us. And also by the way for The Cat. Who, between you and me, with the help of Curiosity, actually found its way into an alternate universe (The one that didn’t get Covid).
Which might just mean that Curiosity didn’t Kill The Cat. Instead it saved it.
People of the Jury I rest my case.
I will leave it in your competent hands to decide;
Curiosity killed The Cat
The Cat was killed by Status Quo & the Owner
The Cat died of a nut allergy
Curiosity saved The Cat who is now enjoying 2022 in a non Covid parallel universe.