The firestarter's guide to curiosity | Mr. Berty Ashley | TEDxThe Pupil International School Youth

Key Concepts

Fire as a Catalyst for Evolution and Inquiry: The transcript posits fire as a fundamental force that propelled human evolution, enabling cooked food, warmth, and shelter, which in turn fostered the development of questioning and deeper thought.
Curiosity as a Tool: The ability to ask questions is presented as a crucial tool for survival, innovation, and transformation.
Historical Examples of Inquiry: Several historical figures and events are used to illustrate how curiosity and questioning have led to significant advancements (Newton, Mary Shelley, Rosalind Franklin).
"Ask Me Anything" (AMA) Workshops: The speaker's experience with children in AMA sessions highlights the power of encouraging open-ended questions and fostering an inquisitive mindset.
The "Fire Starters Guide to Igniting Curiosity": A three-pronged approach to cultivating and maintaining curiosity is outlined.

The Evolutionary Power of Fire and Inquiry

The transcript begins by establishing fire as a "pure form of energy" that has been instrumental in the evolution of humanity. Approximately two million years ago, protohumans like Homo erectus and Neanderthals encountered cooked food for the first time due to a lightning strike igniting a forest. This access to cooked food provided "good quality food" and freed them from the immediate need for food preparation. Furthermore, the ability to control and carry fire offered warmth, allowing them to seek shelter and survive cold nights.

This control over fire is presented as the genesis of human questioning. Basic survival questions arose, such as:

Who will hunt?
Who will cook?
Who will care for the family?
Where to hunt?
Where to find shelter?
When are animals available?
When are crops fertile?
What animals are edible?
What crops are beneficial?

As humanity progressed and became more comfortable, these questions evolved into deeper inquiries about mechanisms and causality ("How is this happening? What is the mechanism behind this?"). Ultimately, once basic needs were met, existential questions emerged: "Why is this happening? Why am I here? Why?"

Curiosity as a Driving Force: Personal and Historical Perspectives

The speaker identifies their own "constant barrage of questions" as leading them to become both a scientific researcher and a quiz master, roles that are fundamentally about asking questions. They emphasize that their goal is to make people think and to pass on the "fire of inquiry."

This spirit of inquiry is then illustrated through historical examples:

Sir Isaac Newton and the Great Fire of London (1666)

Key Event: The Great Fire of London forced the closure of schools and colleges for a year.
Impact: Isaac Newton, then a student, was confined to his home. This period of enforced downtime, rather than hindering him, allowed him to develop calculus and formulate his groundbreaking Newtonian physics. The apocryphal story of the apple falling is mentioned as a simplified representation of his observational curiosity, but the Great Fire is presented as the true catalyst for his intense period of inquiry.

Mary Shelley and the "Winter That Never Ends"

Key Event: The eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia in 1815 caused widespread atmospheric disruption, leading to severe winters globally.
Impact: Mary Shelley, stranded in a large house in Switzerland during a stormy period, was inspired by the bleak environment to write Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. The speaker credits her with "singlehandedly invent[ing] the genre called science fiction," influencing subsequent works like Star Trek and Star Wars. Her writing in a "candle lit place" during this period of isolation and atmospheric anomaly is highlighted.

Rosalind Franklin and Photo 51

Key Event: Rosalind Franklin, working at Cambridge University after World War I, initially studied coal for its potential as fuel and for filtering noxious gases.
Methodology: Her research led her to X-ray crystallography.
Discovery: She took a photograph, known as "Photo 51," which revealed the double helical structure of DNA. This discovery "opened up the world of biotechnology" and is the foundation for all modern understanding of DNA and RNA.

The common thread among these individuals is their "spirit of inquiry" and their refusal to accept the world as it is. The transcript argues that "the world will progress only if you question what if, why not?"

Fostering Curiosity in Children: The "Ask Me Anything" Approach

The speaker shares their experience conducting "Ask Me Anything" (AMA) sessions with students in schools. The core principle of these workshops is to encourage the development of the "muscle of inquiry" rather than rote memorization of trivia. Students are freed to ask any question, leading to insightful and thought-provoking inquiries.

Examples of Student Questions and Explanations:

Planet Naming:
- Question: Why are planets named after Roman and Greek gods?
- Explanation: Most planets are indeed named after Roman and Greek deities (e.g., Mars, Jupiter, Venus). Earth is an exception, named after the Roman goddess Terra. This practice continued until the late 19th/early 20th century, with the International Astronomical Union maintaining the tradition.
Left-Handed vs. Right-Handed Population:
- Question: Why is the left-handed population much smaller than the right-handed population?
- Hypothesis Presented: In ancient times, men used their left hand to hold a shield for heart protection during warfare, while their right hand was free for combat. Women, when holding babies close to their heart for comfort, also utilized their left arm, leaving their right hand free for other tasks. This evolutionary pressure, combined with a genetic predisposition towards right-handedness (around 10% left-handedness), is proposed as an explanation.
Breathing Underwater:
- Question: Why can't we breathe underwater when it contains oxygen (hydrogen and oxygen)?
- Explanation: Water is H₂O, a compound where oxygen is chemically bonded with hydrogen. This form of oxygen is not directly usable for human respiration, unlike the free oxygen (O₂) in the atmosphere.
Angels, Unicorns, Colors, and Shades:
- Questions: Are angels real? What is their duty? Are unicorns real? Where are they? How do tears come from eyes? How do they find colors? What is the difference between shades and colors?
- Significance: These questions, ranging from the fantastical to the empirical, demonstrate a broad spectrum of curiosity, from the "most extreme of unicorns to the most proper direct human connection of tears."
Fetal Respiration:
- Question: When a baby in the mother's stomach is a cell, does it respire? If so, where does it get oxygen from?
- Explanation: Yes, the fetus respites, obtaining oxygen from the mother via the placenta. This question highlights a child's ability to grasp complex biological concepts like respiration and placental transfer.
Mathematical and Philosophical Questions:
- Questions: What is 0 divided by 0? Who founded electricity (Edison or Tesla)? When did everything start? What is life?
- Significance: These questions represent a deep dive into fundamental scientific, historical, and philosophical inquiries.

The Fire Starters Guide to Igniting Curiosity

The transcript concludes with a practical guide for igniting and maintaining curiosity, presented as the "Fire Starters Guide":

Stay Childlike, Not Childish: Children naturally ask many questions. Unlearn the tendency to become silent as an adult and continue to ask questions about anything.
Connect the Unconnected: Embrace the seemingly disparate nature of questions (e.g., unicorns and tears). There may be underlying connections waiting to be discovered.
Make Room for Wonder: Reclaim the sense of wonder and imagination experienced in childhood. This wonder is the spark that ignites curiosity.

The speaker reiterates that the "progress of history, the progress of the universe, especially of humanity depends on people asking questions." The final call to action is to "don't stop asking questions tonight. Don't go home with an answer, go home with a question."