219 | Dani Bassett and Perry Zurn on the Neuroscience and Philosophy of Curiosity

<p>It’s easy enough to proclaim that we are curious creatures, but what does that really mean? What kinds of curiosity are there? And how does curiosity arise in our brains? Perry Zurn and Dani Bassett are a philosopher and neuroscientist, respectively (as well as twins), whose new book&nbsp;<a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262047036/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Curious Minds: The Power of Connection</em></a>&nbsp;explores these questions through an interdisciplinary lens. We break down the different ways that curiosity can manifest — collecting and creating loose knowledge networks, digging deeply to create a tight knowledge network, and creatively leaping to make unexpected connections.&nbsp;</p><p><em>Support Mindscape on&nbsp;</em><a href="https://www.patreon.com/seanmcarroll" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Patreon</em></a><em>.</em></p><p>Perry Zurn received a Ph.D. in philosophy from DePaul University. He is currently an Associate Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies in Philosophy in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at American University. He is the co-founder of the Trans Philosophy Project and the associated Thinking Trans // Trans Thinking Conference. Among his previous works is&nbsp;<em>Curiosity and Power: The Politics of Inquiry.</em></p><ul><li><a href="https://www.perryzurn.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Web site</a></li><li><a href="https://www.american.edu/cas/faculty/pzurn.cfm" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">American University web page</a></li><li><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=1fr7ljcAAAAJ&amp;hl=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Google Scholar publications</a></li><li><a href="https://philpeople.org/profiles/perry-zurn" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">PhilPeople profile</a></li><li><a href="https://twitter.com/perryzurn" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Twitter</a></li></ul><p><br></p><p>Dani Bassett received a Ph.D. in physics from the University o