Curiosity is what drives us to keep learning, keep trying, keep pushing forward. But how does one generate (产生) curiosity, in oneself or others? George Loewenstein, a professor of psychology at Carnegie Mellon University, offered an answer in the classic1994 paper, "The Psychology of Curiosity."
Curiosity arises, Loewenstein wrote, "when attention becomes focused on a gap in one's knowledge. Such information gaps produce the feeling of deprivation (匮乏) labeled curiosity. The curious individual is motivated to obtain the missing information to reduce the feeling of deprivation." Loewenstein's theory helps explain why curiosity is such a force: it's not only a mental state but also an emotion, a powerful feeling that drives us forward.
Scientist Daniel Willingham notes that teachers are often "so eager to get to the answer that we do not devote enough time to developing the question." Yet it's the question that stimulates (刺激) curiosity; being told an answer stops curiosity before it can even get going.
In his 1994 paper, George Loewenstein noted that curiosity requires some basic knowledge. We're not curious about something we know absolutely nothing about. But as soon as we know even a little bit, our curiosity is aroused and we want to learn more. In fact, research shows that curiosity increases with knowledge: the more we know, the more we want to know. To get this process started, Loewenstein suggests, take steps with some interesting but incomplete information.
Language teachers have long used communication in exercises that open an information gap and then require learners to communicate with each other in order to fill it. For example, one student might be given a series of pictures for the beginning of the story, while the student's partner is given a series of pictures showing how that same story ends. Only by speaking with each other (in the foreign language they are learning, of course) can the students fill in each others' information gaps.
As the leaves start to change color and the autumn air turns fresh, sometimes nothing is more appealing than the attraction of a good book. Here are our four top picks for the best books.
The Most Fun We Ever Had
By Claire Lombardo
Doubleday
David and Marilyn have been married forever. Four kids and decades later, they're still as in love as the day they met. Lombardo paints an extraordinary picture of a family in what could well be one of the best novels published this year.
The Shadow King
By Maaza Mengiste
W. W. Norton & Company
A historical novel that takes place in the 1930s Ethiopia, The Shadow King focuses on the female soldiers who take up arms in World War II. In beautiful prose (叙述), Mengiste shines a light on those whose lives are not often noticed.
Someone We Know
By Shari Lapena
Pamela Dorman Books
A quiet suburban town is shaken by a series of break-ins and a body that turns up in the trunk of a car in this latest psychological thriller by the author of The Couple Next Door. How are the crimes related? And what does the invader know?
The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9 /11
By Garrett M. Graff
Avid Reader Press
Journalist Graff puts together an oral history of 9/11 from the perspective of nearly everyone involved. Every single line is breathtaking and heartbreaking, weaving together the story of previously-unimaginable and tragic events that changed history.
American Mark Levine wears many hats in China-educator, author, volunteer, musician, sociologist, cross-cultural communicator, winner of the Chinese government's Friendship Award, and most noticeably, wide-brimmed.
The bushy-bearded 73-year-old is perhaps best known among the Chinese public for writing American country music-style songs about China that he performs in full cowboy regalia. He often sings and plays his guitar to the accompaniment of the erhu played by his friend, Fu Han, in their musical duo, In Side Out. Levine has staged hundreds of performances in 15 provinces, and one had an audience over 50,000, he says.
Fu Han recalls he once performed in a well-known bar in Beijing's Houhai area, and she joined him on stage with her erhu. "A group of tourists from northern Europe came up and watched and filmed us, and started singing with us. I realized a Chinese instrument and face can help better tell China's stories to foreigners. So, they officially became band mates. I'm the 'in' and he's the 'out' in In Side Out," she explains.
Levine plans to release a song book when he reaches 100 songs. He has so far written over 70 tunes that he calls "musical stories from my Chinese journey,, since he settled in Beijing in 2007 to take an occupation at Minzu University of China, where he still works, largely on account of its ethnic diversity.
Levine says two highlights during his time in the country have been winning the Friendship Award in 2014 and receiving his Chinese "green card" in 2016. Levine hopes it increases cross-cultural understanding. One of his friends says Levine is particularly apt for the task. "Mark is a perfect ambassador for humanity, so to speak, who has found his ideal place here," he says.
China's Mars rover, Tianwen-1, will likely attempt to land at a site in northeastern Mars, according to a new paper published just days ahead of the mission's launch. The paper was written by team members of China's Tianwen-1 Mars mission, which aims to send an orbiter and a rover to the Red Planet.
The study reveals new details about Tianwen-1, outlining its intended landing area, science goals and the names of instruments aboard the spacecraft. It also stresses the historic nature of the mission: Not only is Tianwen-1 China's first fully homegrown Mars mission, it's also the first to carry both an orbiter and a rover.
Tianwen-1 means "questions to heaven" and was taken from the title of a poem by Qu Yuan (340 — 278 BC). The spacecraft will reach Mars in February 2021, at the same time as NASA's Perseverance rover and the United Arab Emirates' Hope orbiter launched on Sunday (July 19). However, China's rover will remain attached to the orbiter for two to three months before attempting its landing, according to the paper.
The chosen landing area is Utopia Planitia, a huge basin formed by a large impact far back in Mars' history that was also the region where NASA's Viking 2 lander touched down in 1976. China had isolated a part of the vast plain as a landing area, which means there will be more time and atmosphere for the entry spacecraft to slow down and safely land on the surface. The latitude is also suitable for receiving enough sunlight to power the 240 kilograms rover. The relatively smooth surface will also be helpful for roving. The mission also benefits from the engineering heritage of China's Chang'e lunar exploration program, the paper noted.
The Tianwen-1 orbiter will operate in a polar orbit in order to map Mars. The rover will also investigate the surface soil characteristics and water-ice distribution with its own Subsurface Exploration Radar. It will also analyze surface material composition and characteristics of the Martian climate and environment on the surface.