Seek: How Curiosity Can Transform Your Life and Change the World

The relentlessly optimistic debut from Shigeoka, a lecturer at the Center for Integrated Design at the University of Texas-Austin, posits that curiosity can strengthen relationships and bridge partisan divides. As a “city-dwelling liberal Asian American spiritually queer professor and researcher from Hawai’i,” Shigeoka in 2019 embarked on a trip from Arkansas to Minnesota to Montana, seeking to meet members of “the other side”—Trump supporters, rural farmers, faith leaders—in hopes of easing his anxieties about America’s polarization. What he discovered (in himself and others) was a “deep curiosity” that powers “meaningful connection”; “unlocks” a sense of security, joy, and freedom; and fosters personal transformation. To tap into their own deep curiosity, readers should release preexisting biases, cultivate the “right mindset” for curiosity-seeking (for example, one can “pull curiosity to the forefront by paying attention to the number of questions you’re asking in conversation”), work on valuing the inherent worth of all people, and embrace curiosity in moments of hurt and anger. Despite some awkward attempts to sound hip that fail to land (“We need to move away from BDE to the more evolved BCE: big curiosity energy”), Shigeoka presents an energetic case for the power of openness in an era characterized by social isolation and echo chambers. Shigeoka’s enthusiasm for exploration and connection is contagious. (Nov.)