But this contrast caused me to realize how greatly I suffer from a lack of curiosity about others and even about myself. I yearn for others to be curious about me. I wonder how much of the rich textures of life I miss by not being appropriately curious about others. I have chosen to use the word curious to describe an attitude that accompanies meaningful engagement in the lives of others. To understand this, we must consider definitions of curiosity.
Curiosity is a subjective quality of persons whereby they are eager to learn.
As in the case of the proverbial cat, this eagerness can have the bad connotation of putting our nose into a matter for which we have no invitation. It is none of our business, and to enter it is to violently impose ourselves upon others. In this case curiosity is more akin to voyeurism. This pushy inquisitiveness is the enjoyment of something best left a secret to the one seeking information. In the course of answering a surface question I put to him about his career, an acquaintance on the airplane mentioned in passing that he had been divorced.