Which of the two is more curious?

[Christina Anikari]

Of course Helel, but there is still the possibility of some traits being statistically more represented in one or the other gender. One of the most obvious examples are violent aggression which tends to be more prevalent in males. Something similar might be found in regards to curiousity, though I am at a lose of how to investigate it. But if you are to hazard a guess it is prudent to focus on the ways gender roles encourage curiousity or not as, at least unless you believe that there is something essential in the differences between genders.

Still it is mostly a meaningless question as there are too many elements of curiousity and too many options of being curious about something and not about something else, to say something specific. For example I have next to no curiousity about recent trends in car modification, but if Discovery Channel is to be trusted there is a huge demand for information about this. So any answer will depend on what knowledge we focus on and given the lack of statistical information ultimately our own judgement based on anecdotic evidence, personal beliefs, what we feel like when answering and probably several other factors and not any real knowledge.

[Helel]

I tend to ignore gender roles that are forced upon people and would rather think of people equally. Surely it'll result in creating bias, but I'm thinking in a world where straight lines are infinitely long and infinitely thin, so I apologize if it seems I'm over simplifying, because that was my intent.

The thing is, I'm an engineer by training, so the way I think things through goes like this: I'd assume a horse is a sphere to make the math easier.

That of course doesn't apply to the current situation, but I did base my position such that I made the assumption of minimal forced gender roles, because frankly the very concept of such irritates me when I'm looking at a facet or aspect of a person and how they go about living.

[Mitera Nikkou]

If I thought like that I wouldn't be able to look a gift horse in the mouth. I mean... Where would the mouth be!? ;p

Now, I still haven't cast my vote yet, because I've been thinking. I've been thinking of what chemical trends, unique (or more prevalent) to each sex, would inspire more acts of curiosity if they were left on their own and not overridden by the will of other thoughts.

It's not exactly my area of expertise. ;/ But I know there must be something.

[Helel]

If I thought like that I wouldn't be able to look a gift horse in the mouth. I mean... Where would the mouth be!? ;p

It'd just be a point on the surface of the sphere, Nikkou. To make the math easier.

[Mitera Nikkou]

A point? That sounds more like a puckered hole, anatomically speaking... I'll leave you to look at such a thing. I've got my non-sphere horse and I much prefer it facing me, as it is now. Nice horsie~ *Pat-pats it between the eyes*

[Helel]

A point? That sounds more like a puckered hole, anatomically speaking... I'll leave you to look at such a thing. I've got my non-sphere horse and I much prefer it facing me, as it is now. Nice horsie~ *Pat-pats it between the eyes*

*the eyes are just another pair of points, the tangents of each of the lines forming a perfect triangle on the surface of the sphere horse* XD

[Mitera Nikkou]

The sphere-horse has three eyes? O.o;

[Helel]

No no. The horse only has two eyes, labelled points I1 and I2. It then has a mouth, which is a point M, set between and below points I1 and 2.

Seriously, think about it. How would you make a horse, using only a sphere? it can't be too hard, can it? Look at balloon animals.

[Mitera Nikkou]

I'd argue that but we've strayed from the topic enough. XD Maybe I'll continue it in the Tea room... Or you could, since I'm feeling a bout of laziness coming on. ;/

[Helel]

I think I've sufficiently made my point in my typical roundabout manner, so that's okay. XD

[Christina Anikari]

I see your point in that and i agree that in a biological sense there isn't much of a chance that there is a difference between men and women. In fact i voted both, or neither depending on how you prefer to phrase it, because of that. I was just making a comment on what it depended on, namely culture instead of individual differences because it is ultimately a statistical question. But really like i have consistently said the question is fairly nonsensical due to the problems with defining curiousity.

[Mitera Nikkou]

Curiosity is easy to define. It is where initial exposure to something isn't enough, for whatever reason, and you desire to explore further. Turning around to find the source of the sound that you had heard behind you. Hearing about a news story and watching it when it comes on later to hear the details. Someone tells you about how bad the littering is somewhere and you want to see if they were exaggerating or not. Something nags for your attention, a thought or a memory, and you try to recall it. Stuff like that.

And there is a difference between men and women, biologically. Think about menstruation, or even the general, monthly cycle. Now, to give more perspective, see the difference between menstruation and estrus. And who can forget how the sun and the moon have influenced our chemical makeup? The problem is seeing how things like that might effect curiosity. Essentially both sexes have a lot in common, but there are enough differences in many respects that leaves the possibility open for natural tendencies. Unlike contracted addictions, however, many such traits are easily overwhelmed by our will. Heck, placebos have shown that our will can effect the natural course of things in ways that people have normally thought of as outside of the realm of possibility.

It's just my guess that, if we knew everything (or most) that there was to know, we'd likely find an innate tendency to be curious at least a little more significant in one sex than in the other. I'm not ready to toss my towel on the fence, but I also can't presume either sex right now... The truth is seemingly hidden behind countless factors. If only I had a Staples Easy Button. ;/

[Christina Anikari]

That is the definition of the concept as such of course, but it is rather lacking for any real behavioral discussion because it can express itself in a near infinite variety of ways and you can express feeling it in an extreme variety of ways. And there really is no way of determining who is the most curious because of this, it is hard to tell how people will react based on it and as such no way of judging who is more curious other than by what you feel like when you observe it. A lot of behavior that might be caused by curiosity doesn't appear that way until you have some kind of understanding of the topic or at the very least of similar topics. Whenever my father meets old classmates they consider him dull and uninterested in learning new things because he is just reading stuff...or something. What my father actually works as is a college professor, a job that is typically seen as being for the highly curious by others. Just as an example of the inherent problems in talking about degrees of curiosity.