During the last few years, and most certainly the past few months, I've had the opportunity to reflect at length about the the pluses and minuses, pleasures and pains, strikes and gutters, etc., of wandering the globe, whether for business, pleasure, or sheer nomadic instinct.
In particular, I've been struck by what I would call the "curiosity gap". Put another way, there is clearly a division, a fault-line if you will, between those of the human race with a curiosity about their fellow mankind, and those that may acknowledge the existence of "others", but appear to have little interest in any greater understanding. Thus the genesis of my little essay below:
This division struck me quite clearly just the other day during one of hundreds of encounters I've had with ninos de la calle (street kids) in Peru. A pair of 11 / 12 year old boys came up to me with the usual sale of gum, cigarettes, etc. I gave my usual prepared response (ya lo tengo - I already have it, no gracias nino - no thanks sonny, etc.)Well that's enough rumination for now. I'm off to do a little more exploring of my own, get to see a bit of the Amazon rain-forest (sadly, I think of this as an opportunity to see it before it's gone), and start prepping for my semi-triumphant return to the U.S.
But one kid was particularly inventive and gave me the line - "but you need good smelling breath for your girlfriend, right?" Now I had to applaud the creative sales pitch, so I said "of course, how stupid of me" and told him he made a good sale. Now is was thinking this is clearly a pretty quick kid, so I was curious:
"How many hours do you guys usually work out here?", I asked.
"Around 9 hours per day, normally - 6 days a week", the older one replied, nonplussed by my questions.
"Do your parents work?"
"Yes, both of them work, but we all work, the whole family. But me and my brother are going back to school next year."
"Hey, mister" the younger one asked "Where are you from - England right?"
"No way!", feigning hurt at being confused with a gin swilling Brit (no offense...) "from the U.S., Washington, DC"
"Cool", the older one said, "we have a cousin who lives in New York. Someday I'm going to visit him, and maybe go to other places too - like London, Germany, Tokyo. All those places where you tourists come from!"
At this point, some of my fellow travelers were giving my arm a yank to get going to our next destination, and I had given the kids their soles for gum and conversation, but as I was walking away, the one kid said "see you in America!" in damn good English.
Here's what I'm driving at:
You can travel the whole world and find hundreds of millions of kids just like this - smart kids, living in poverty, trying to find their way through each day, yet clearly possessing an extraordinary curiosity about the rest of the world. Now mind you, I understand that much of this is driven by sheer economics - if this was your situation, and you had an inkling of the "fabulous life" people lived in these far off, exotic places, of course you'd be curious.
But what strikes me as odd, is that the residents of these far off, exotic lands (like you and me) often have so little curiosity about the world beyond there borders (whether actual borders or socio-economic borders)
How is it that those of us with the means, the knowledge, and the time to become better acquainted with our fellow man are the first ones to put up the fence, build the wall, hide the kids, and hope that we don't ever have to encounter the "ugliness" of the "other"?
Again, I understand that rational interplay between "economics" and personal safety is at play here - we've got a lot, "they" have nothing, and we assume that if we seek "them" out, we will be robbed, beaten, killed, etc. or at least feel very guilty for thinking we will be robbed, beaten, killed, etc.
But once again, I don't think its that simple. I can see a clear line drawn between the kids in Lima, and a 12-year old in Pakistan chanting "Death to America", just as I can see a clear line drawn between a well-off Californian family who avoids, Mexican-food, Mexicans, and heaven forbid ever taking a few hours drive to the country on the other side of the border and the American family I met in Namibia who were in the midst of a 3 month back-packing trip through 5 African countries.
Its all a matter of curiosity trumping fear, tapping into what I always thought was one of mankind's better innate drives - the desire to explore.
The question I pose at the end of this little essay is: what kindles or kills that innate drive? Is it culture, education, opportunity, or something else?
I'd like to think that the more we ask these questions, the more we might encourage a little more curiosity in ourselves and about ourselves. One can only hope...
Stay interested folks...
M
6 comments:
Curiosity trumping fear...nicely put. There's a Gurdjieff story that goes like this: a student asked G., "My wife and I want to buy a little farm in the countryside, and live a self-sufficient quiet life, with a few cows, sheep, chickens, and grow our own food, away from all the negativity and dangers in the cities. This seems to me to be the ideal life." Gurdjieff replied,"Yes a safe quiet life, this is an ideal life...for chickens and cows. Do you want a safe life, or do you want to test yourself against the difficulties of life so that you may grow in will and consciousness?"
well written Matt! :)
-Karol
Good post, Matt!
To answer your question as to what kills the innate desire to explore, I don't think it is so simple as being a relatively affluent Westerner who abhores the "other". For example, the majority of Americans do not have the money to pay $1000 per ticket just to fly their families to Europe, let alone the $2000+ to fly them to a place like India or Australia. They may be curious, but it's not economically realistic to expect them to go. It IS realistic to see them taking their families to the Jersey Shore, or schlepping 16 hours in a car to the Grand Canyon, or hitting the slopes in Park City for a weekend.
Many people now rely, rightly or wrongly, on their broadband connection and the Discovery Channel to "explore" the world. These are poor substitutes for actually being in a place and meeting the people, but in many ways it is still a major improvement on what we had just thirty years ago.
I know this will sound strange coming from me, since I have traveled so much and highly encourage everyone with the means go abroad for extended periods, but I would suggest that you do not need to go abroad in order to have the desire to explore. Canada, for example, is an enormous and very diverse country in terms of geography, nature, and people to say the least. An outdoorsman could find a lifetime of exploring in just that one country. Some marine biologists study a single beach for an entire career.
Some people have the fear of things unknown whether it’s different kind of food, ethnicity or society. I’ve known people who are perfectly content (happy even) without ever leaving their little town. They look at me in amazement; never understand why anyone would ever want to live in a place where nothing stays the same at any giving moment. Exploring the world? “Hmm, does that require flying and eating uncooked food?” :D
For the rest of us, it has a lot to do with priority.
A family might have $20,000 lying around, but before they decide to spend all the extra money on a trip somewhere exotic, they might think “Well, it’d be great for my children to see the world, learn different cultures and make friends with the locals… but our roof is leaking, the washing machine is 10 years old and Johnny is going to college in 4 years… what if he doesn’t get any scholarship?”
Surely, compare to the 12 years old Peruvian kid, we live a privileged life. We have so much going for us then they could ever imagine. However, this privilege does not come without baggage. It’s one thing to want to travel around the world; it’s another to actually put all your responsibilities down, take time off from your job, family and life to see the world. Without sounding totally jaded, it’s those responsibilities that give us the means for better lives, the possibility of maybe, eventually, someday we can vacation somewhere amazing. While I don’t think most of us are completely out of desire to explore, it’s the pursuing of a better life that at times stops us from being “too curious” of the world.
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