The Elephant’s Child, Rudyard Kipling, 1902

1. There was one Elephant—a new Elephant—an Elephant’s Child—who was full of ‘satiable curiosity, and that means he asked ever so many questions. He asked his tall aunt, the Ostrich, why her tail-feathers grew just so, and his tall aunt the Ostrich spanked him with her hard, hard claw. He asked his tall uncle, the Giraffe, what made his skin spotty, and his tall uncle, the Giraffe, spanked him with his hard, hard hoof. He asked his aunt, the Hippopotamus, why her eyes were red, […]; The Elephant’s Child …filled all Africa with his 'satiable curiosities. … He asked questions about everything that he saw, or heard, or felt, or smelt, or touched … The Elephant’s Child, Rudyard Kipling, 1902

2. One fine morning this 'satiable Elephant's Child asked a new fine question. He asked, "What does the crocodile have for dinner?" Then everybody said, "Hush!" in a loud and dretful tone.... At last things grew so exciting that his dear families went off one by one in a hurry to the banks of the great grey-green, greasy Limpopo River, […], to borrow new noses from the Crocodile. When they came back nobody spanked anybody any more; and ever since that day, O Best Beloved, all the Elephants you will ever see, besides all those that you won’t, have trunks precisely like the trunk of the ‘satiable Elephant’s Child. The Elephant’s Child, Rudyard Kipling, 1902

3. Curiosity the willingness to ask questions potentially transformative in the long term strange motivation high costs unforeseeable benefits value comes (long) after learning

4. “Few phenomena have been the subject of more protracted discussion than human knowledge. Yet this discussion has usually paid little attention to the motivation underlying the quest for knowledge, with the result that two important questions still confront us. The first question iswhy human beings devote so much time and effort to the acquisition of knowledge. Sometimes there is some obvious drive to whose satisfaction knowledge can contribute. But strangely enough, many of the queries that inspire the most persistent searches for answers [...] are of no manifest practical value or urgency. The second question […] is why, out of the infinite range of knowable items in the universe, certain pieces of knowledge are more ardently sought and more readily retained than others.” Berlyne, A theory of human curiosity British Journal of Psychology, 45, 3: 180, 1954

5. A difficult question

6. Decision making Motivation, Emotions Primary rewards (food, water, sex, safety) How does cognition shape decisions? How does motivation engage cognition? Cognition seems unnecessary Motivation seems unnecessary Cognition Attention, Memory, Representations Instructed