Being curious is an act of will. It’s certainly easier not to be curious. After all, following your curiosity can challenge long-held beliefs and — if you’re not careful — even change your mind about something or someone (gasp!)
There’s a particular benefit of curiosity that interests me lately — especially witnessing the viscous resurgence of authoritarian book-bans and narrowing of reins around what teachers are allowed to teach — or even say. The thing that authoritarians know, deep down, is that engaging curiosity — especially to learn about things outside our comfort zones — naturally deepens our capacity for empathy.
It becomes impossible to hate once we take the time to understand the story of another.
In her book See No Stranger, Valarie Kaur references a study in which researchers found simply looking into the eyes of a stranger for a few minutes diminishes fear of the “other” and increases curiosity (I wonder what this person likes to eat… where they come from… what was their childhood like?)
Because the fact of it is: our brains are wired for story and want to understand and have empathy. It’s coded into our survival as a species.
Armed with an understanding shaped by curiosity, we start to view the world — and each other — with nuance, layers and complexity. A place painted less in extremes, and more in shades of grey. And that poses a mortal a threat to the “us” and “them” thinking needed to divide people into opposition groups.
Curiosity and empathy are antidotes to the other-izing that polarization needs to survive.
Seeing each other as a threat is the social construct. And banning books, isolating media silos (and controlling information), regulating education, emboldening social constructs around fearing “other,” and declaring invisible borders around like-minded communities — these are the tools the beast of authoritarianism uses to squelch the exact kind of curiosity that removes fear and deepens empathy for people outside our race, religion, sexual identity or economic strata.
I’d argue it’s our current empathy deficit (being triggered by design) that is at the source of most — if not all — of our current societal challenges: mental health, gun violence, climate change, economic inequality, racism, sexism, immigration, healthcare.
The authoritarian beast doesn’t want your curiosity on any of those issues.
It wants you to believe what it tells you. It wants your fear. It’s survival depends on it.
I don’t know about you but I don’t particularly like living in fear. I like connection and empathy — these are the things I need to survive.
So what is there to do?
Sadly, staring-contests with strangers is probably not something we’re ready for… (have you seen this incredibly moving global eye-contact experiment?? Imagine the world if such interactions were normalized!) In the absence of controlled staring sit-ins with strangers…
You can start by decolonizing your bookshelf.
When we read a book, our brain actually responds as though we are the protagonist in a story. We experience life through the lens of their challenges, beliefs, desires and perspective. We experiment with them and we learn. There is no easier or more accessible way to widen one’s capacity for empathy.
Last night I came upon this sentence by one of the characters in, The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese,
“Fiction is the great lie that tells the truth about how the world lives.”
Reading authors — of fiction and nonfiction — outside the traditional western canon1 allows us to come as close as possible to experiencing the truth about how world lives — through other people’s eyes. In story we inevitably discover shared universal truths that bridge across the human condition.
Books give us unfettered access to understanding, and the personal invitation to care.
I started the journey of decolonizing my own bookshelf a few years ago (credit to Black Lives Matter). In the beginning I made the conscious choice to select books by authors with different identities. As a mark of how deep my indoctrination in the western canon had been, the first time I read an author of color I felt like I was spying. How messed up is that??
My second emotion was profound, emotional, human connection. As embarrassing as this is to admit now, I was actually surprised how easily I found myself in the words of someone I’d been taught to think of as different.
And now? I dive in and appreciate — intensely — that an author has invited me into the intimate experience of their world, no matter who they are, what they believe, how they dress or who they love. I laugh and cry and learn… and love them for the profound gift of their perspective.
Thankfully there’s been a notable shift in the publishing industry and it’s easier than ever to find great books by authors of all races, gender identities and areas of expertise.
If you’re looking for ideas to widen your own reading net, find some banned book lists! Beyond those (lists which for now are still growing every day) here are just a few of the books that expanded my curiosity and widened my world-view through story over the past few years (all photos by book-obsessed, yours-truly).
Books by Authors of Color:
Books by authors whose obsessions include nature, climate and non-human connection:
Books by LGBTQ+ and Trans authors:
And finally, an ode to a few more books that I consider to be master-texts on nuance as well as inspiring wonder, radical curiosity and deep empathy.
Books, truly, are magic.
Obviously there are SO MANY MORE. Please share books that fall into these or other categories that have moved you!
I’ve read all of the books included in this post so please, if you have any questions or want specific thoughts on any of them, please ask in the comments! I also have reviews on my all-book bookstagram account.
Until next time, stay curious and keep leaving those good footprints my friends!
as a 52 year-old white woman, I’d estimate 95% of the books assigned to me in high school and college were by white/cis-gender/male/heterosexual authors — thankfully this seems to finally be changing — at least outside of certain states
What a fantastic list of books (that are now at the top of my summer reading list). I love "Curiosity as an act of resistance." One hundred percent agree that curiosity and wonder breed empathy – something we need to cultivate more of in our culture. With this consciousness, there is hope that we can turn the tide with our compassionate action.
This is a wonderful piece, Jennifer!
2 quotes stuck out for me:
“Fiction is the great lie that tells the truth about how the world lives.” - Abraham Verghese
"It becomes impossible to hate once we take the time to understand the story of another." - Jennifer M. Koskinen