34 Comments

I once stuck my finger in that red hot coiled metal cigarette lighter thingy from the car door next to the flip lidded ash tray - just because I was curious. I was 12 years old and 100% knew better. I was in a station wagon full of kids on the way home from camp. It hurt so stinkin' bad but I refused to yelp because I knew it was way too stupid to let anyone know what I'd done. I would have died from embarrassment.

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I remember having that impulse! I mean, not to stick my finger into the lighter precisely, but countless other instances of curiosity that led to some kind of injury.... all too common for Young Andrew, I'm afraid.

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"The circumstances of Lewis's death in 1809 remain a subject of historical debate."

What's not debated, however, is that it was called the "Corpse of Discoverer."

I must learn to stop doing that.

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Now, teach AI how to do that.

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I'm afraid this kind of deep, sophisticated humor is beyond the capabilities of existing models. We'll have to wait for at least GPT-7.

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I've read that GPT5 is gonna end the planet. See you on Jupiter?

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As long as it's not Uranus, we're good.

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Man, no matter how you say that word, it's gonna sound dirty.

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John Denver. He loved flying and died in an experimental plane in 1997.

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And yikes: he was only 53 when he died. (!)

It does seem incongruous that Denver would have died in an experimental plane, since his music was like the polar opposite of daring or risky, but that's also through the lens of me growing up with protest music of the sort Denver enjoyed making having a lot more edge to it. Punk came and went after most of Denver's biggest contributions, for instance.

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Denver did have a risky edge to him. He wrote songs that made statements. I recently wrote a post about his song, "Prisoners", about prisoners of war (Vietnam at the time) - "Bring the boys home." He also alluded to the use of marijuana in "Poems, Prayers, and Promises". He was a supporter of the Cousteau Society, Save the Children, Friends of the Earth, and other wildlife protection groups, while, not daring, did send a message that would upset some folks in oh, say, logging companies, off road vehicle manufacturers, etc.

https://louisehaynes.substack.com/p/prisoners

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Very interesting stuff! It's just ironic that everyone sort of associated him with conventionality by the time he died, but really, he wasn't just some conformist or anything. Far from it, Denver faced down those same conformist and powerful forces.

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Indeed.

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William Bullocks was an inventor. Instead of having to load the paper by hand, Bullock's patent made it possible for a continuous roll of paper several miles long to flow through a printing press.One day, while helping install one of his printing presses, his leg got caught in the machine. The machine crushed his foot, resulting in a gangrene. He died days later.

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That's a good one!

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I did not know Marie Curie died from radiation. Andrew, i read a lot of Substack and yours is definitely one of the best. Definitely, in my top 3. You have talent my friend.

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Thanks so much, Steven. I'm glad you're here!

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How about everyone on the Oceangate submersible? I think the leader died if hubris, but the passengers may have died of curiosity.

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Agree, or perhaps some blend of both. I struggled to divide the last 2 days' worth of folks neatly into each of these categories. Humans are complex!

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... curiosity killed the cat but satisfaction brought it back .... :-p

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Do you know much about the origin of that saying? Could be a fun little side-exploration, maybe.

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I don't actually. I think I first learned it as a Stephen King quote but of course it doesn't come from him originally.

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Nice. There's a lot out there about the original saying, which could also be kind of fun. It's so odd, but it's also so cautionary.

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Also interesting to consider all of the different ways it's been used in writing, music, film

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No, I haven't, but I know a lot about it.

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Wanna give it a shot? Maybe I can help a little.

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Lewis had gifts, sure, but Clark was no slouch, either. That was why Lewis chose him to go on the expedition with him.

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David, have you ever written about the Corps of Discovery?

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Another interesting post!

However, I have a few thoughts:

1. Is there a right ‘kind’ of curiosity and a ‘wrong’ kind of curiosity? How do we define both, and how do we assess the risk if we are taking the wrong kind of risk?

2. Even today, we see building things even though we do not understand their long-term impact. AI is a great example.

3. Is it part of some human nature to take risks (some may call it unnecessary risk)? It could be due to genuine reasons like below in #5 or not fully understanding or some medical reasons. Steve Jobs has a quote for some of them:

Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

4. I also think much progress has only happened because of curiosity.

5. The one story I know of is https://www.wired.com/2016/01/phil-kennedy-mind-control-computer/

Neurologist Phil Kennedy set out to build the ultimate brain-computer interface. In the process, he almost lost his mind.

To find more, I thought I would ask ChatGPT, and here is what it came with (I have not checked the validity)

Below are additional historical examples of individuals who might be said to have died of curiosity:

1. **Alexander Bogdanov** - A Russian physician, philosopher, economist, science fiction writer, and revolutionary, Bogdanov was fascinated with the possibility of human rejuvenation through blood transfusions. After founding the Institute for Blood Transfusion, he subjected himself to numerous blood transfusions, believing it would lead to perfect health and possibly immortality. Unfortunately, he died in 1928 following one of his experiments, likely due to blood type incompatibility, which was poorly understood at the time.

2. **Thomas Midgley, Jr.** - An American chemist, Midgley's work led to the creation of both leaded gasoline and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). His curiosity and innovation resulted in inventions that, while initially celebrated, turned out to be highly damaging to public health and the environment. Ironically, Midgley contracted lead poisoning as a result of his work with leaded gasoline. He later contracted polio, which led him to invent an elaborate system of ropes and pulleys to help others lift him from bed. Tragically, he was accidentally strangled by this device in 1944.

3. **Franz Reichelt** - A tailor by trade, Reichelt was obsessed with creating a suit for aviators that could convert into a parachute and allow them to survive a fall from their aircraft. In 1912, in a test of his latest prototype, he jumped from the first deck of the Eiffel Tower and fell to his death, as curious onlookers and even the media witnessed the event. His curiosity and desire to innovate in aviation safety led to his fatal jump.

4. **Marie Colvin** - An American journalist who worked as a foreign affairs correspondent for the British newspaper The Sunday Times, Colvin was known for her bravery and relentless curiosity in covering conflicts. She reported from war zones including Chechnya, Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, Libya, and Syria. Colvin died in 2012 while covering the siege of Homs in Syria, as a result of an artillery attack.

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Interesting - I wrote about Reichelt yesterday (batman who fell from the Eiffel Tower).

I agree that much of human progress happened due to curiosity. Our drive to figure things out has been instrumental in our evolution.

"the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do" is such a fantastic quote, and it's 100% true.

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The cat?

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It looks like Ben Jonson first made this claim (that cats are curios, and curiosity kills them) some 400 years ago!

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But what is life without the zesty spice of curiosity? And we're going to die anyway. I agree with you on finding the right balance.

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Exactly! I'm curious to find out what it's like to die, but... well hey, not curious *enough*, you know?

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