T.C. said:
This is something I have a big interest in. Our curiosity is stunted by our parents. Children just want to know and they ask open questions all the time. "What's that? Why?" and a lot of parents don't seem to care about that; their child's curiosity doesn't rank high on their list of priorities; it's more a burden. The response I often see from these parents is silence. Children in that position then learn not to ask questions, and I think that's horrible.
It is horrible and likely has to do with self-referencing - not really putting themselves in the place of their child (a form of narcissism).
TC said:
I think a lot of it has to do with dissociation. When you live in a dissociated state, you don't notice the things around you; you walk around with tunnel vision, like Ouspensky's snail. You can't question things you don't notice. Adults live this way and they just don't SEE what children see.
Well, you also have to remember that children are extremely dissociative - they spend a lot of their time 'not here' - for lots of different reasons, so it may not be dissociation of the adults to blame, though that might come into play some of the time.
tc said:
So when they hear a question from the child about something they haven't noticed or taken an interest in, they think the answer inconsequential, childish even. They'd fear embarrassment by stopping and looking at a chair and wondering how it's put together and how it holds the weight of a person.
That would speak to inhibition - which, I think, is definitely a factor. Adults have usually internalized societal standards and are, thus, rather inhibited in a lot of ways, including 'getting into a busker' - osit.
tc said:
The article Laura posted recently about narcissists (
here) gives another good reason for this. It talks about when Narcissists can't stand the feeling of being wrong and not knowing something. If they feel it themselves, it shatters their ego and if they think they've exposed the fact that they don't know something to another person, then that brings fears of rejection or scorn or ridicule, which they interpret as a reflection of their true nature.
I'm not sure that directly applies, since a busker wouldn't really be challenging a narcissistic need to be right. A busker might prompt a feeling of superiority in a narcissist, thus a lack of interest or curiosity, but I don't think there is any challenge to 'being right' - to a classic narcissist, a busker would be trivial, an amusement and unless they served a purpose, something to be ignored.
The lack of adult attention to the busker might - however - speak to a 'narrowing of the adult's world' (inhibition) or 'tunnel vision' and a general lack of inquisitiveness - assuming the busker is good at what they do in the first place.
tc said:
To be curious is to admit that you don't know everything, and a lot of people can't do that. The predator can't stand the mental state of 'openness'.
That's true, though, again I'm not sure how it directly relates to this situation simply because most buskers are impersonal and passed on the street; not really in a position to challenge one's knowledge or standing in any way - though, this is just my take on it and I could be mistaken.
