Curiosity made the cat a great lover

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-urban-scientist/201004/the-one-dating-trait-successful-future-mate

Once I waded though pop-psychology psychobabble, I decided he had a good point. Curiosity helps create good relationships. The bottom line is that the more you understand someone the better you will learn to interact with them.

And let's face it, we all appreciate people who show a sincere, accepting, interest in ourselves.

Another interesting thing he postulated was that Prejudice and judgment are the opposite of curiosity.

The biggest issues I had with his theory were his coupling of maturity and narcissism within his construct off curiosity. Maturity might be the opposite narcissism, but do we really become MORE curious as we become more mature? That might be a good goal, but I find that older people tend to have much LESS curiosity than younger people. Narcissists, on the other hand, clearly would not be curious people, but their lack of curiosity is only a sign of their ridiculous pride.....though finding people who are curious would be a good way to eliminate narcissists from your life.

The bigger issue is treatment of curiosity as a static character trait. When you first meet someone, you're bound to be more interested in them. However, it's very possible that people eventually lose this curiosity. Indeed excessive curiosity might even be reason to stray--you've gotten used to your partner and are curious about new people.

With that being said, reading the article, I realized that I really value curiosity when it comes to relationships and friendships. I'm not the kind of person to just tell you who I am, what I think. I'll wait for you to express interest and acceptance.

In addition his emphasis on being non-judgmental is also really enlightening, and a character trait to strive for. We're should be slow to judge--striving to completely understand before we make a judgment.

What are your thoughts?

Can curiosity be cultivated?

Do we become less curious as we become more mature?

How much do you value curiosity?

At what point does curiosity cross the line into creepiness, TMI, and intrusiveness?