A great irony begins to unfold when you examine what childlike curiosity really means.

If you’re curious, you constantly learn. Learning leads to growth. Growth fosters change.

Two of the smartest individuals in history had something to say about change.

Stephen Hawking: ‘Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.’

Albert Einstein: “The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.”

If intelligence requires change, change comes from learning, and learning starts with curiosity

What childlike curiosity really is under the surface is the freedom from the pressure to be the smartest in the room. All around us, in our hyper-information economy, intelligence is glorified. Appearing answerless on social media is feared. There’s shame in not having or knowing the answer. There’s shame in silence. And this hurts one’s willingness to find a connection.

By holding “childlike curiosity” up as the pinnacle character quality that he most desires, he is free from the pressure to appear smarter than the people he surrounds himself with.