Curiosity extends life: Festival with experts Naughton in Linz!

Curiosity extends life: Festival with experts Naughton in Linz!

The German-English science author and pedagogical psychologist Carl Naughton will share the latest findings on the topic of curiosity on May 23 and 24, 2025 at the first festival of curiosity in Linz. In his lecture, Naughton illustrates that curious people have up to 12 % more lifetime than less curious people. These significant statements are part of his current book "The power of curiosity: live longer, more easily, learn more lust", which he published as a new work from 2016. Naughton plans to present his findings interactively and with joy and states that curiosity represents a "knowledge ensemotion" that acts as an inner drive. In the development of his theories, he began in 2005 with a vocabulary program based on a computer game.

naughton's research on curiosity also extends to the professional context. In this context, he developed a curiosity scale and was appointed in the Curiosity Council of the Technologier Giant Merck in 2016. The measurability of curiosity was tested in various contexts, including Porsche Consulting. It turns out that curiosity acts as a survival mechanism, especially in children who are naturally very curious. Losing weight this curiosity in growing up is worrying, since adults often no longer remain curious and thus run the risk of missing essentials in their surroundings.

The importance of curiosity in old age

A new study, published on May 14, 2025, illuminates the role of curiosity in old age. This investigation, carried out by an international research team with the participation of the Hector Institute for Empirical Education Research, questions the widespread assumption that curiosity decreases with age. The results show that older people are more selective in their interests, but no less inquisitive. In particular, interest in specific knowledge content, such as quiz questions, increases from the center of life.

curiosity could therefore act as a cognitive protection factor that promotes mental fitness and reduces signs of dementia. This is supported by collaboration with UCLA and Western Carolina University, the results of which were published in the journal PLOS ONE. The study, which bears the title "Curiosity Across the Adult Lifespan: Age-Related Differences in State and Trait Curiosity", shows that the general curiosity tends to decrease through the lifespan, but continue to play an important role in stable, personality-specific curiosity and situational curiosity.

practical tips for promoting curiosity

Naughton also offers practical advice to promote curiosity. He emphasizes that questions open the brain and recommends the application of the formulation technique, which promotes the asking of many questions in order to expand the possibility. It also distinguishes between social curiosity and new knowledge and emphasizes that curiosity is often associated with uncertainty and uncertainty, which makes it easier for curious people to exist in times of crisis.

For more information on Naughn's research, interested parties can be the articles on vienna.at href = "https://uni-tuebingen.de/fakultaeten/wirtschafts-und-zialwissenschaftliche-fakultaet/faecher/fachgeben-zialwissenschaft/hector-institut-f Uer-empirical education research/Institut/News/NewsfullView-Aktuell/Article/Covering-a-Schluessel-Fuer-Verliches-Altern/"> Uni-tuebingen.de read.