胡迪尼的大象与好奇心

A person who writes articles says curiosity is good, but it also has downsides.

Curiosity is the desire to know more.

This person is named Andrew Palmer and writes articles for a famous magazine.

He says curiosity can keep people from concentrating and can also slow down decisions.

Many bosses see curiosity as an ability that can help a company adapt to change.

But Palmer says curiosity also has a downside: it takes time.

At a university in Britain, a researcher looked at many studies together.

She found that students with strong curiosity tend to get better grades.

The article also mentions a study saying that when people want to learn, they remember more firmly.

In another study, people had to guess how a magic trick was done.

One group was told, "You're close, but not right."

The other group was told, "You're right."

As a result, the first group came up with more new magic tricks.

A big tech company put a large sign by the roadside with a math problem on it.

People passing by saw the problem, found it very interesting, and wanted to try it.

Those who solved it could find the company's recruiting website.

Charities ask people to donate money.

These organizations use money to help others.

If people are asked to donate a bit over eight yuan rather than ten, more people donate.

This unusual amount seems to make people more willing to donate.

At a business school in France, a researcher says curiosity makes people take detours.

These detours take time, but they may bring benefits later.

The article also has another study.

When people chose videos they wanted to watch themselves, they were more curious about the content.

If someone else chose for them, they were less curious.

A professor at a business school in America studied a big travel website.

This website runs about one thousand experiments at the same time.

These experiments mean trying different approaches to see which is better.

Many of these experiments are invisible to others.

Palmer says that for curiosity to work, one must accept that there are gains and losses.

Companies need to spend time on roads that lead nowhere, and also spend time running experiments.

Most of these things happen in the dark, where others cannot see them.

Palmer writes at the end of the article: "There is almost nothing bad about curiosity.

Almost."