Curiosity, a bath, and a Eureka moment

In the third century BCE, the King of Syracuse had given a bar of gold to a goldsmith, from which he was to fashion a crown. The goldsmith did just that, and soon returned to the king a crown equal to the weight of the gold he was provided. Soon however rumours began to circulate that the goldsmith had cheated the king and mixed some silver into the crown so that he could keep some of the gold for himself. To ascertain the truth, the King employed Greek mathematician Archimedes to solve the problem.

Archimedes was initially stumped by the problem, but one night while having a bath, he had an epiphany. He had noticed, that when he stepped into the bath, the water level rose. He immediately realised that he had made a major discovery, and cried out, ‘Eureka!’, which means ‘I have found it!’, and was so overjoyed he ran through the streets naked.

Archimedes had discovered that he could calculate the volume of an unusually shaped object by submerging it in water. He found that the volume that the water rose, was equal to the volume of the object that had been submerged.

With this new discovery, Archimedes could now solve the problem. He simply weighed the crown, measured its volume, and calculated the crown’s density (measured as mass/volume). He then compared this with the density of a known sample of gold, and was able to conclude that the goldsmith had indeed cheated the king.

The story illustrates that with curiosity, great discoveries can be made.

Ancient societies such as the Greeks and Babylonians made great discoveries in maths and science simply by being curious. These discoveries have continued to this day, enabling advancements in astronomy, medicine, architecture, art, and philosophy.

Curiosity is something we are all born with. As little children we relentlessly ask ‘Why?’ as we seek to understand the world around us. This curiosity can continue for a lifetime with learning and discovery - but can also wane with disuse.

Curiosity is, by definition, an eager desire to know or learn something. It allows people to embrace unfamiliar circumstances leading to the opportunity for personal discovery.

Albert Einstein described himself as ‘passionately curious’, and attributed his success to four things - curiosity, concentration, perseverance, and self-criticism.

Walt Disney, who made incredible advances in the field of animation, said, ‘We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious, and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths’.

As investors, curiosity is one of the most important traits there is. Curiosity helps us dig deeply into all aspects of our investments, as we seek to understand them. It also helps us to understand the sectors, the competition, and the markets, in which our investments operate.

Curiosity helps us to think deeply and rationally about the decisions we make. It also helps us in our efforts to avoid certain biases, such as the confirmation bias (where we seek out only the information that supports our views).

So how can we become more curious? Here are five ways:

1. Expand your boundaries. Pick up a book on a new subject and immerse yourself in it. By reading and learning beyond one’s current field of interest, it can often help reframe the knowledge that we have.
2. Ask questions relentlessly. There is no such thing as a foolish question. Academic Clay Christensen said, ‘Questions are places in your mind where answers fit. If you haven’t asked the question, the answer has nowhere to go’.
3. Read voraciously. Soak in as much information as you can and build your own internal database of knowledge. Become a lifelong learner, and read widely from newspapers, annual reports, history books, special-interest books, business books, and biographies.
4. Never view anything as boring. Artist Andy Warhol produced a famous series of paintings based on a can of soup. Warhol took one of the most instantly recognised things he knew and helped the world to see it in a new way. Everyday items can take on a new understanding when we think of how they work and their origins.
5. Make it fun. When we approach learning as fun, it becomes much easier. The life of the curious will be fun and adventurous because there are always new things to learn.