I have always been naturally curious, I think. In school, I had to check this impulse in order to fall in line. The curriculum like it was more often stifling than fanning the flames and I feel I am lucky I didn't come out it completely jaded.

But then again, I was among the last generation of kids that actually played outside on my block, burning anthills with magnifying glasses, catching frogs out of the sewer grates. The same neighborhood now is dead quiet, even in the middle of the summer, presumably because what kids there are all sit inside glued to screens. I hope that isn't the case everywhere, and I wonder what it does to a person's natural curiosity. It can't be good, I imagine.