20160615 (why)

We gotta figure it out. Whatever 

IT is: rain? those parallel lines

That bend inward or outward

When a ruler says they’re straight?

How did the moon get there?

Why do some boys end up 

Liking boys better than girls?

And the reverse. How old is

The universe? our sun? the earth?

Or, as Emily Littela of the old,

Old Saturday Night Live with

Gilda Radnor: “For somebody

From New Jersey, you sure ask

A lot of questions.” But WHY?

It’s at this point in his retelling

Of a morning with his inquiring

Daughter Louis C.K. confesses

He is considering child-murder.

It shows up that early. I took

Clocks and radios apart to see 

How they worked. Does curiosity

Arise only in children of relative 

Wealth, whose parents can give

Them leisure to tinker? What 

About the baby stage where

Infants put everything in their 

Mouths—worms and dog poop—

Just to underscore the primitive

Nature of our curiosity? Here’s

Where the evolutionary utility

Of curiosity comes in. What if

Humans were not so curious?

Could they survive to the age 

Of passing on their incurious

Genes? They might not eat as

Much dog poop (or poison

Mushrooms) on their way to 

Procreativity but would they

Die first from not caring if those

Were tigers growling in the bush?

It’s a fairly good scenario that

Curiosity favored our survival

And we passed it on, just like

We passed on good eyesight,

Strong teeth and bones. But

Right now—whether we’re

Long past the stage of passing

Along our genetic composition

Or eagerly awaiting the chance—

Nonetheless, curiosity on its 

Own seems like a pretty good

Thing. Look what has sprung

From that gift so far: medical

Cures, eyeglasses for those of

Us not blessed with perfect

Vision, motion pictures, cars,

Name it. There's the downside

Of poison berries, finding out 

Our spouse is texting a lover,

Or something as simple as

Spoiling a mystery by reading

The last chapter to find out

Who the killer was. And because

We have this curiosity which is

A great thing, does that mean

All our questions have answers?

Or were we hornswoggled into

Thinking there are reasons just

Because it’s a helpful habit?

I’d like to know what you think.

But that’s because I’m curious

And I can't help it.

c. J.S.Manista, 2016