Evening star., 1927-11-22
Are You More Curious Than Afraid:


Darwin. curious to know what would
banpen. put some harmless garden
snakes in a paper bag and threw 1t
in the corner of the monkey cage
at the Zoo. Instantly, one after
another. the monkeys ran to the bag
peened in and scampered off, fright
ened. to the other end OF the cage;
then came back and frightened them
selves again. Their curiosity was
stronger than their fear. Humans
have the same kind of a psychology,
only a little more complex. some OIL
us have more fear than curiosity ana
others more curiosity than rear. Also
we are curious about and afraid OF olI-
ferent things.
Curiosity pulls you toward, fear
away. from things. That is how ma.
ture builds us. The earlier KINDS OF
acting from fear and acting from curi'
ositv have a strong dose or lnstlhct
in them. Fear behavior is shrinking
or crying, hiding or running-aVoio-
ing. Curiosity makes you TAKE notice'
1raws YOU on. leads you to inspect. per-
hans to handle or fondle. A baby's
curiosity is more readily aroused than
its fear. though it doesn't take much
tn start fears. DR. Watson's motion PIC
tures show infants playing with Whlte
mice and black cats, rabbits, kittens,
dogs, pigeons, and even frogs ana
snakes. The looks. the feel. the move
ments Of these creatures attract. but
ANYTHING sudden, like the jump OF
frog. or the rough paving of cat
or dog. or too big a dog or barking
dog. kills curiosity and brings on rear;
and then it may not be easy 10 get
rid of the fear and restore the pay
ing interest. Nurses can easily make
children timid, especially if they them-
selves are SO. II you can use the
natural curiosity of young children to
| induce netting of animals you can
prevent many useless fears. Curiosity
must also be wisely directed away
from mere meddlng and destroying
and on to useful examining with a
purpose.
Those monkeys. like many children,
| showed a mixed sort OF shrinking
curiosity. Grownups are pulled by
fear and pushed by curiosity at once.
We invent elaborate devices to pro-
vide such situations. That's the
psychology of scenic railways and
| loOp.the.loops and shoot-the-shoots to
afford safe thrills. You have curiosity
enough to want to know how 1t feels
| to toboggan and dash and whirl
around sharp curves. Thered be no
excitement in moving slowly on the
level The thrill Of breaking the speed
limit attracts even people who shriek
and hold their breath or find their
hearts humping when they dash about
| wildly. Then they pay their money
and frighten themselves again or get
used to it.
There's a good reason why nature
has built us that way. The novel
should attract: following your Curl
osity leads to knowledge. There's
| just as good reason why you should
approach the strange with caution,
why it should repel or frighten; for
it may be dangerous. The familiar is
safe. But it's an uncertain line that
| divides the novel from the strange.
| The infant at ease with mother or
nurse cries when stranger takes it
up. Yet some children are attracted
| to strangers. The older child goes
with unerring instinct" to anything
| in a room that wasn't there before.
| The novel attracts because the famil-
lar loses interest, both play interest
| and fear interest. The newest toy is
played with. AS you get used to
, things it lowers the excitement value
in all fields. If you've never flown