Polite Little Kids…?

A few week’s ago I posted an article titled, Society: Creativity Assassin? The post is about how some schools and teachers beat the creativity out of kids in an attempt to have them “do things right.”

While watching some videos at TED.com I came across an interesting one from Aimee Mullins, an athlete, actor, activist, 1996 Paralympic Games record-breaker with two prosthetic legs. The talk is about design and the human body, but she drops a line at about the one minute mark that made me take notice. You can watch it here:

If you can’t (or don’t want to) view it, here’s the quote:

“From my experience, kids are naturally curious about what they don’t know, what they don’t understand, or is foreign to them, they only learn to be frightened of those differences when an adult influences them to behave that way,and maybe censors that natural curiosity, or you know, reigns in the question asking, in the hopes of them being polite little kids.”

Very interesting, and very much echoing what I said in my previous post. Based on her quote, here are two questions for you:

Question 1) Are you supporting people’s (people’s, mind you, not just kids) natural curiosity about what they don’t know or are you trying to influence them into being polite little kids (and adults)? Are you happy with that?

Question 2) Have you been raised as a “polite little kid?” Nothing wrong with that – heck, probably half of my blog rants are about people’s lack of politeness – but are you taking it too far? have you been so conditioned to be polite that you are suppressing your own natural curiosity about things you don’t understand?

Simple questions, but ones worth asking yourself from time to time…

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By Avish Parashar. As the world's only Motivational Improviser, Avish uses techniques from the world of improv comedy to engage, entertain, and educate audiences on ideas around change, creativity, and motivation. Connect with Avish on Google+

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