What’s interesting is that performance and curiosity aren’t opposites so much as they’re running on different reward schedules one wants the hit now, the other’s fine waiting years for a payoff nobody’s tracking. Makes sense why the performing version burns out faster, there’s no compounding interest on borrowed opinions.
Performance always needs somewhere to land. It needs some kind of punchline, or takeaway, or applause. The way I see it, curiosity has no exit strategy. It's just fine wandering off with no conclusion in sight and no audience. That's probably the real tell, not what someone says in company but what they still do when there's no one listening.
"There is a difference between collecting ideas and living with them"
This really resonated with me. I'm learning Spanish, and recently I realized I'd been underestimating my vocabulary because I was focused on the number of words instead of what I could actually do with them. Even when I thought I knew "less," I was already creating my own sentences. It reminded me that there's a difference between collecting vocabulary and living with it. One fills a list; the other changes how you think and communicate.
Being performative has ruined curiosity, people actually judge you for not having interests if you don’t post or share something, you don’t have to be vocal about your interests to someone who cannot understand the intensity of it, it is personal, only people who genuinely care about learning actually converse in a manner that feels as if they are really interested and are not being performative and the conversation can lead to learning something new, rather than coming down to conclusions for posting stories
I loved this piece because it beautifully expresses the enjoyment gained from deep thought and textured conversations and the new insights that can be discovered and shared. I truly value this.
A really insightful read. I’m curious (no pun intended) about whether you have advice on how to grow our own curiosity about the world?
I find myself being tempted to glaze over books / topics / facts / places too without immersing myself in them, or giving each one the attention & time & curiosity it deserves.
I think its something you build over time. The best way is to just start, and the more you learn, the more you get fascinated about such and such and the world and you'll start to become curious about other things. Im speaking from my opinion so do what you will!
I think you have to first figure out what your motive is, "why do I just glaze?", "why can't I just read it, think about it, live with it?". And then you treat the reason. But whatever treatment you give yourself, it should be FOR yourself. Not related to performance or others in anyway.
This really made me think about how often we confuse the appearance of knowing with the actual desire to understand. I especially liked the distinction between collecting ideas and actually living with them. Curiosity feels so much more alive because it leaves room to be wrong, surprised, and changed. Really enjoyed this one.
I noticed i started becoming a performative intellectual because i didn't like how im in my current state and i just feel left behind in it all. I just feel like i need to catch up with something. Anything, because I'm not really good at anything
Life is not a race against anyone. This feeling sucks and trust we’ve all been there. Randomly pick something to try and if you don’t vibe w it then pick another and so on. This way you not only get an idea of your likes/dislikes but you also pick up some good skills on the way!
Social media has made intelligence a whole performative act, an ego matter. A struggle for not letting others to know we don’t have all the answers. This is why now they say people don’t want to read, but they want to have read. Remain curious and accept our opinions aren’t the only truth is an act of humanity, indeed.
This is brilliant. Thank you! And so timely for me.
I had a friend contact me recently asking me if I had ever heard of The Odyssey by Homer. Being a bit of a buzz word at the moment I’m guessing they saw the new movie trailer. I explained I did indeed know Homer’s works as I had studied it for years. I shared my views on what his work shows us about the complexities of humanity and how in the book our human flaws are on show, not hidden, and how much we can learn from that in this era of toxic positivity. A couple of days later she made a video and posted it on her Instagram spouting all of my insights as her own, taking my interpretation and each of my words verbatim and pretending to her Insta followers like she has read The Odyssey when she hasn’t.
Performative intellectualism has to be up there as one of my least favourite things.
something that is so interesting to me is that ive met so many curiously intelligent people who become performative intellectuals purely because they want to be seen.
they end up downgrading their own self purely because of trends, and oh does that hurt.
This piece nails the difference between performing smarts and actually being curious. I love the author's self-awareness and the relatable contrast quote-droppers vs. people who quietly change how you see things. Short version: real intelligence isn't collecting ideas; it's letting them reshape you.
What’s interesting is that performance and curiosity aren’t opposites so much as they’re running on different reward schedules one wants the hit now, the other’s fine waiting years for a payoff nobody’s tracking. Makes sense why the performing version burns out faster, there’s no compounding interest on borrowed opinions.
I love the latter part of your comment! 🤍🙌🏼
Performance always needs somewhere to land. It needs some kind of punchline, or takeaway, or applause. The way I see it, curiosity has no exit strategy. It's just fine wandering off with no conclusion in sight and no audience. That's probably the real tell, not what someone says in company but what they still do when there's no one listening.
"There is a difference between collecting ideas and living with them"
This really resonated with me. I'm learning Spanish, and recently I realized I'd been underestimating my vocabulary because I was focused on the number of words instead of what I could actually do with them. Even when I thought I knew "less," I was already creating my own sentences. It reminded me that there's a difference between collecting vocabulary and living with it. One fills a list; the other changes how you think and communicate.
Being performative has ruined curiosity, people actually judge you for not having interests if you don’t post or share something, you don’t have to be vocal about your interests to someone who cannot understand the intensity of it, it is personal, only people who genuinely care about learning actually converse in a manner that feels as if they are really interested and are not being performative and the conversation can lead to learning something new, rather than coming down to conclusions for posting stories
I loved this piece because it beautifully expresses the enjoyment gained from deep thought and textured conversations and the new insights that can be discovered and shared. I truly value this.
curiosity won’t be just remembered by others, but also leave you happier in life
A really insightful read. I’m curious (no pun intended) about whether you have advice on how to grow our own curiosity about the world?
I find myself being tempted to glaze over books / topics / facts / places too without immersing myself in them, or giving each one the attention & time & curiosity it deserves.
I think its something you build over time. The best way is to just start, and the more you learn, the more you get fascinated about such and such and the world and you'll start to become curious about other things. Im speaking from my opinion so do what you will!
I think you have to first figure out what your motive is, "why do I just glaze?", "why can't I just read it, think about it, live with it?". And then you treat the reason. But whatever treatment you give yourself, it should be FOR yourself. Not related to performance or others in anyway.
This really made me think about how often we confuse the appearance of knowing with the actual desire to understand. I especially liked the distinction between collecting ideas and actually living with them. Curiosity feels so much more alive because it leaves room to be wrong, surprised, and changed. Really enjoyed this one.
Loved it and kinda wish I could send it to the one person we all have in mind but whatever
Same
But why send ? Or why not send ??
Don't have an answer to both
So whatever
I noticed i started becoming a performative intellectual because i didn't like how im in my current state and i just feel left behind in it all. I just feel like i need to catch up with something. Anything, because I'm not really good at anything
Life is not a race against anyone. This feeling sucks and trust we’ve all been there. Randomly pick something to try and if you don’t vibe w it then pick another and so on. This way you not only get an idea of your likes/dislikes but you also pick up some good skills on the way!
As a curious person, I lovedddd reading this! Brilliant
Social media has made intelligence a whole performative act, an ego matter. A struggle for not letting others to know we don’t have all the answers. This is why now they say people don’t want to read, but they want to have read. Remain curious and accept our opinions aren’t the only truth is an act of humanity, indeed.
This is brilliant. Thank you! And so timely for me.
I had a friend contact me recently asking me if I had ever heard of The Odyssey by Homer. Being a bit of a buzz word at the moment I’m guessing they saw the new movie trailer. I explained I did indeed know Homer’s works as I had studied it for years. I shared my views on what his work shows us about the complexities of humanity and how in the book our human flaws are on show, not hidden, and how much we can learn from that in this era of toxic positivity. A couple of days later she made a video and posted it on her Instagram spouting all of my insights as her own, taking my interpretation and each of my words verbatim and pretending to her Insta followers like she has read The Odyssey when she hasn’t.
Performative intellectualism has to be up there as one of my least favourite things.
something that is so interesting to me is that ive met so many curiously intelligent people who become performative intellectuals purely because they want to be seen.
they end up downgrading their own self purely because of trends, and oh does that hurt.
After a while, performance leaves you exhausted and mentally drained while curiosity refreshes your mind and perspective.
This piece nails the difference between performing smarts and actually being curious. I love the author's self-awareness and the relatable contrast quote-droppers vs. people who quietly change how you see things. Short version: real intelligence isn't collecting ideas; it's letting them reshape you.