Through curiosity, children carve out concepts from the environment that they assemble into models to describe the world. Children then test those models to see how well they predict what they observe, and they use the results from those experiments to form new concepts and models---leading to the next round of the curiosity cycle. However, our children are more than passive observers. They are an embodied part of the world and have brains that are predisposed to see the environment in particular ways. To get the most from their curiosity, children must build models about the intentions of those around them and the tendencies within themselves. These curious minds will be entering a world that is increasingly dominated by computation. Computers are becoming better at understanding the physical environment, and this will transform the workplace and alter how we spend our free time. This book explains how your child can understand how a computer thinks and how your child can leverage his or her curiosity to thrive in a world with intelligent computers where human creativity is valued above all else.
The Curiosity Cycle
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
"If Mugan starts his book with wisdom that would have been familiar to our grandparents, he ends it with wisdom that seems to come from our future grandchildren." - Singularity Hub
"If you have an interest in fostering your child's curiosity (and what parent doesn't), then take a look at this book." - The Thoughtful Parent
About the Author
Jonathan Mugan is a research scientist focusing on machine learning. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Texas at Austin. His thesis was centered in developmental robotics, which is an area of research that seeks to understand how robots can learn about the world in the same way that human children do. He received his B.A. in Psychology from Texas A&M University.
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More About the Author
Jonathan Mugan is a research scientist focusing on machine learning. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Texas at Austin. His thesis was centered in developmental robotics, which is an area of research that seeks to understand how robots can learn about the world in the same way that human children do. He received his B.A. in Psychology from Texas A&M University.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By Phil Shapiro
Format:Paperback
The Curiosity Cycle is a short, interesting guidebook for parents, teachers and anyone else interested in promoting curiosity. The author, Jonathan Mugan, is a research scientist focusing on machine learning. His doctoral thesis centered on developmental robotics, which aims to understand how robots can learn about the world in the same way that human children do.
As someone with a philosophy undergraduate degree, who also studied a few years of engineering, I found this book to be richly deep in ideas. I found interesting parallels of the ideas in this book with some of the bold thinking that goes on at MIT's Lifelong Kindergarten program, part of MIT's Media Lab.
The preface lays out the reason for the book when it explains, "Curiosity leads to flexible and adaptive thinking. The world is changing fast: Rote memorization and brittle thought are not going to be sufficient, and being flexible and adaptive will be increasingly important as individuals have more power to determine their destiny." For me, as an educator, these words ring definitively true.
Mugan explains how the brain builds tentative understandings of the world that are constantly revised and updated. All that we consider true must be understood as tentatively true, subject to revision. This rings true to my mind.
The structure of this book makes the ideas easily digestible. Short sections of chapters recommend ways to promote curiosity in children: Encourage your child to act in uncertain environments; Encourage your child to predict the future; Encourage your child to articulate the current model.
The book hits in stride in chapter 3, Spinning the Curiosity Cycle. In this chapter Mugan explains how the curiosity cycle builds upon itself. This is chapter where I spent a lot of time thinking about how the minds of children are brought to life in the home and only refined in school. What of all the children whose minds are not brought to life at home? You cannot refine something that does not currently exist.
Where, outside the home, can we also bring children's minds to life? Museums? Libraries? Robotics teams? Where else?
What makes this book valuable is that I very much want to lend it to one of my most thoughtful friends. In the parenting that my friend does, he follows many of the paths suggested by Mugan. He wants his children to be flexible enough in their thinking that they'll succeed in whatever future arrives at their front door. We cannot know what that future will be, but we can know how better to prepare our children for it.
As someone with a philosophy undergraduate degree, who also studied a few years of engineering, I found this book to be richly deep in ideas. I found interesting parallels of the ideas in this book with some of the bold thinking that goes on at MIT's Lifelong Kindergarten program, part of MIT's Media Lab.
The preface lays out the reason for the book when it explains, "Curiosity leads to flexible and adaptive thinking. The world is changing fast: Rote memorization and brittle thought are not going to be sufficient, and being flexible and adaptive will be increasingly important as individuals have more power to determine their destiny." For me, as an educator, these words ring definitively true.
Mugan explains how the brain builds tentative understandings of the world that are constantly revised and updated. All that we consider true must be understood as tentatively true, subject to revision. This rings true to my mind.
The structure of this book makes the ideas easily digestible. Short sections of chapters recommend ways to promote curiosity in children: Encourage your child to act in uncertain environments; Encourage your child to predict the future; Encourage your child to articulate the current model.
The book hits in stride in chapter 3, Spinning the Curiosity Cycle. In this chapter Mugan explains how the curiosity cycle builds upon itself. This is chapter where I spent a lot of time thinking about how the minds of children are brought to life in the home and only refined in school. What of all the children whose minds are not brought to life at home? You cannot refine something that does not currently exist.
Where, outside the home, can we also bring children's minds to life? Museums? Libraries? Robotics teams? Where else?
What makes this book valuable is that I very much want to lend it to one of my most thoughtful friends. In the parenting that my friend does, he follows many of the paths suggested by Mugan. He wants his children to be flexible enough in their thinking that they'll succeed in whatever future arrives at their front door. We cannot know what that future will be, but we can know how better to prepare our children for it.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By Christine C.
Format:Paperback
There are timeless classics in the genre of parenting books, but times are changing faster than you can say "What To Expect The Toddler Years."
Enter The Curiosity Cycle - Preparing Your Child For The Ongoing Technological Explosion by Jonathan Mugan. It's the kind of parenting book that is so appropriate for this day and age because it addresses the increasingly digital world in which we live and raise our children. But guess what? Most of this book isn't even about technology, but rather how to nurture and maximize our children's inborn curiosity.
Mugan offers tons of ideas to feed the curiosity cycle through simple activities, games, and even just conversation starters. He also discusses how to deal with technology in a way that continues the curiosity cycle rather than kills it.
Very interesting read and applicable to all parents raising little ones 0-10ish.
Enter The Curiosity Cycle - Preparing Your Child For The Ongoing Technological Explosion by Jonathan Mugan. It's the kind of parenting book that is so appropriate for this day and age because it addresses the increasingly digital world in which we live and raise our children. But guess what? Most of this book isn't even about technology, but rather how to nurture and maximize our children's inborn curiosity.
Mugan offers tons of ideas to feed the curiosity cycle through simple activities, games, and even just conversation starters. He also discusses how to deal with technology in a way that continues the curiosity cycle rather than kills it.
Very interesting read and applicable to all parents raising little ones 0-10ish.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I had higher hopes for this book, but it had some good advice to glean. 3.4 is where I reviewed it.
