Curiosity did not Kill the Cat
The phrase âcuriosity killed the catâ has always bugged me. Â Does inquisitiveness really lead to trouble? Or, was the phrase coined by the malevolent forces to suppress the individual? To scare them away from seeking answers? Â I canât be sure.
The original phrase was actually âcare killed the catâ. Care meaning âsorrowâ, more than âgivingâ here. So, maybe, the term was originally used to suppress emotion? Again, I canât be sure. Curiosity replaced care though because, at that point, the view of cats was evil. [1]
The blockbuster film Wall:E may help us on the subject.
Wall-E is not a cat though?
No, but Wall-E is a curious little robot. His existential quest leads him to break his directive and collect inanimate objects found in the barren land of a pre-existing human civilization. His curiosity is what distinguishes him from other robots and keeps him alive. Eventually, he finds the first plant to have grown on Earth in over 700 years.
What does this mean for us?
Well, Wall-E's curiosity does indeed put him in some tricky situations. And you could be forgiven to believe that curiosity killed the robot, as he does very nearly die. He gets battered, bruised and beaten. Though, at the same time, he hums to music, dances in the stars and finds love. Not to mention touching the lives of everyone he meets. He (symbolically and literally) opens people's eyes.
Wall-E's existential "crisis" is what gives him character. It drives him to understand himself and the world around him, instead of blindly obeying his directive. What if, then, having a range of thoughts, emotions, beliefs and experiences - positive and negative - is exactly what gives us our sense of fulfilment?
Understanding our inner world can help us understand our perspective of the outer world. If we do this, could the seeds planted in barren fields of an abandoned Earth start to sprout?
Curiosity killed the cat? Puh! Curiosity is what makes us live. Â
[1] http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/curiosity-killed-the-cat.html












