Why? Why? Why? The Consumed Curiosity of the Best Inventors

Do you know any 4-year-olds? If you do, you know their favorite word. It's a short word, only three letters, but it drives adults crazy.

"Why?"

"Why is the sky blue?" "Why do dogs bark?" "Why can't I eat candy for breakfast?" "Why is the moon following us?"

Sometimes, adults sigh and say, "Because I said so!" or "That's just how it is."

But here is a secret: The 4-year-olds are right. The 4-year-olds are the smartest people in the room.

They are doing exactly what scientists, inventors, and explorers do. They are refusing to accept the world as "boring." They want to know the source code of the universe.

The Death of Curiosity

Something sad happens as we get older. We stop asking "Why." We get scared.

We sit in class and the teacher says something we don't understand. We want to raise our hand and ask, "Why?" But we look around. Everyone else is nodding. We think, "If I ask, everyone will think I'm stupid."

So we put our hand down. We stay silent. And a little door in our brain closes.

This is a tragedy! The moment you stop asking questions is the moment you stop learning.

The Best Inventors are gigantic Babies

Think about the greatest geniuses in history. They were really just big kids who never stopped asking "Why."

• Isaac Newton sat under a tree and saw an apple fall. Most people would just eat the apple. Newton asked, "Why did it fall down? Why didn't it fall up? Why didn't it go sideways?" Because he asked that "silly" question, he discovered Gravity!
• Albert Einstein imagined riding on a beam of light like a surfer. He asked, "What would I see?" That daydream changed how we understand the entire universe.

At Orb21, we try to be like big kids. We love questions. We love saying, "I don't know, let's find out!"

"I don't know" is not a shameful phrase. It is an exciting phrase! It is the start of an adventure.

The Library of the World

Imagine the world is a giant library. Every single object has a story.

Look at a rock. It seems boring. But if you ask "Why is this rock here?", you might learn about a volcano that exploded millions of years ago. You might learn about a glacier that carried the rock for a thousand miles.

Look at a spider. Eek! Scary! But if you ask "Why does it spin a web?", you learn about engineering that is stronger than steel.

Coding—the thing we do at Orb21—is just a way of asking questions to a computer.

• "What happens if I type this command?"
• "How can I make this character jump?"
• "Why did my screen turn blue?" (Okay, we ask that one a lot!)

Exercise Your Wonder Muscle

Curiosity is a muscle. You have to exercise it.

Here is a challenge for you: Try to find three things today that you don't understand, and ask "Why?"

1. Why do leaves change color?
2. How does a zipper work?
3. Where does the water go when I flush?

Then, go find the answer! Read a book. Watch a video. Ask a smart friend.

When you find the answer, you will feel a little "click" in your brain. That is the feeling of a new connection being made. That is the feeling of getting smarter.

Be Brave, Be Curious

So, be brave. Raise your hand. Ask the question.

The only silly question is the one you don't ask.

The world is full of secrets, waiting for someone curious enough to unlock them. Why not you?