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In my experience, most people don't seem very curious, and the consequence is that they do not develop a wide variety of interests. They cannot repair their own cars, bicycles, or furnaces, for example, because they had no inclination to look over grandpa's shoulder to find out what he was doing under the hood of the car.....eager to learn how things worked.

I probably sound like a broken record....forgive me.....but the best way to make an acquaintance and initiate a conversation is to ask someone about themselves. Most people enjoy talking about themselves, but they do not seem interested in asking questions of others. I've learned a lot, asking questions and I've become a generalist....I can talk to just about anyone about any subject because I know a little bit about a lot of things.

Only an incurious society could elect a man as their president, who attends a briefing set up just for him, on a threat as great as the approaching CAT 5 hurricane, Katrina, and not ask a single question. It was alos reported that he asked no questions when the bi-partisan ISG group that he handpicked, presented him with it's final report on the war in Iraq. He had no questions for the group of former secretaries of state who he met with about two years ago.

So we have an incurious leader of an incurious people.

I'm pretty sure that thinking begins with "thinking to ask". The internet was established rather late in my life. When I get into a movie that comes on TV, I am inclined to search imdb.com on the desktop computer I have next to the couch in the den, and I check the actor's bios and their other work.

I google or wiki anything that I become curious about, on the spot, at home or on my internet ready merged cellphone device when I'm out. I use it much more for that than for talking.

Before the internet, I used to find myself reading anything that I could get my hands on, newspapers and magazines, mostly. I noticed that most people in a doctor's waiting room or in line at the DMV, do not spend their wait time reading. When I lived in Manhattan and rode the subway, I noticed that almost everyone was reading a periodical or a book. There are a lot of successful and prosperous people in Manhattan.

Even the cabdrivers in NYC can be seen reading, when they wait inline at the airport, bus, or rail terminal for fares. When I vacationed in Mexico, I noticed that all of the cab drivers played checkers with bottlecaps, and none were reading.

I'm fascinated by history and only recently by genealogy. I've outgrown a tendency to ever feel bored, the internet has helped with that, as well as inertia....the more I learn, the more I want to know. I've known a number of people with advance degrees who impress me as incurious and unintelligent. I question the reliability of my suspicions about them, though.

If I was not observing and mulling over the habits of those around me, reading and searching the internet, asking people questions, finding out how things work, needing to find out more about everything that I encounter, and following up on these inclinations, what would I have to think about, talk about, or write about?