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A viewer asked us: at what age is curiosity strongest? Let's bring in four contestants: a little kid, a teenager, someone in midlife, and a grandparent. Three rounds. Each one tests a different kind of curiosity.
Round one: who asks the most questions? Researchers recorded kids chatting with their parents, and counted every question. Preschoolers ask more than 70 questions an hour. And they really want the answers.
Brush them off, and they ask again. Give a real explanation, and they nod. Round one goes to the four-year-old. Round two: who most wants new thrills?
One study asked over 5,000 people in 11 countries. Ages 10 to 30. The urge to try new things climbs from age 10. It peaks at 19, then slowly eases off. Round two goes to the nineteen-year-old.
Round three: who most wants to know the answer to a question? Researchers in the US recruited over 1,200 adults. Ages 20 to 84. They showed them trivia questions and asked: how badly do you want the answer?
Middle-aged people scored lowest. Past that, the scores climbed back up, highest among the oldest. The researchers' guess: the kids have grown up, work is done. At last there's time for what truly interests you. Round three goes to the seventy-five-year-old.
Here's the twist: the older people were, the less curious they said they were. Yet faced with a real question, they wanted the answer most. So when is curiosity strongest? It depends on which kind. Asking questions peaks at 4. Chasing new things peaks at 19. Wanting to understand keeps rising past 70.
So, did that answer it? Whatever else you're wondering, leave it in the comments.
There's more than one kind of curiosity. So instead of asking who's most curious, we hold three rounds, one kind each.
Researchers recorded young children chatting with their parents at home and counted every question. Preschoolers ask, on average, more than seventy questions an hour that they truly want answered — and the number keeps climbing through the preschool years.
They aren't asking just to talk. Brush them off and they ask again, or make up their own explanation. Give them a real explanation and they nod.
One study surveyed more than five thousand people aged ten to thirty in eleven countries. The urge to try new, exciting things climbs from age ten, peaks at nineteen, then slowly eases off.
In the same study, self-control grew much more slowly, only leveling off between 23 and 26.
US researchers showed more than twelve hundred adults, aged twenty to eighty-four, one trivia question after another and asked: how badly do you want to know the answer?
Middle-aged people scored lowest. After that, scores climbed back up, and the oldest scored highest. The researchers' guess: once the kids have grown and work is done, there's finally time for what truly interests you.
This dip-then-rise curve came from an extra analysis; the researchers say other studies still need to confirm it.
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