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Episode Highlights

Clare shares how a career in behavioral and neuroscience research led her to question whether her work truly served the world and how that moment of disconnection sparked a master’s in Applied Positive Psychology and a deep dive into curiosity interventions.

She explains the science behind curiosity and well-being like how curiosity broadens perspective, strengthens creativity, and helps us find meaning and purpose.

Clare describes creating “Curiosity Thursdays”, unpaid days dedicated to exploration and learning and how intentional time for curiosity fuels new thinking.

The conversation explores balancing curiosity with productivity: scheduling curiosity intentionally, matching brain energy to task type, and building rhythms like “Wonder Wednesday” meetings to re-ignite collective wonder.

Clare unpacks top-down vs. bottom-up curiosity and purposeful learning versus open, unstructured noticing and why both are essential for creativity and growth.

She discusses the intersection of curiosity and AI, including how awareness and questioning keep our brains engaged rather than passive.

Clare introduces her Curiosity Sprints that are two-week experiments inspired by Agile thinking designed to make learning iterative, joyful, and evidence-based.

We reflect on how curiosity can help redefine success, shift from “achievement” to “enjoyment,” and re-learn the lost art of being bored.

Featured Quotes

On the necessity of intention

“I had to intentionally carve out that time, because otherwise something more important would always be there. There has to be an aspect of intentionality around curiosity in the world we live in today.”

On balancing curiosity and efficiency

“I’ve given myself permission, and I’ve actively chosen to be curious. Know the importance of it, be purposeful about it—and then schedule it into your day.”

On curiosity and AI

“Curiosity actually amplifies memory. So if we can ignite our curiosity before we go in and ask a question of an AI, we’ll remember more and learn more deeply.”

On slowing down and not being busy

“We are so busy all the time that we don’t really have any hobbies, or we don’t know what our hobbies are anymore. And it’s like, I don’t know how you find that when you’re always busy—you can’t listen, you can’t hear, you can’t find that creativity that’s bubbling up inside you.”

On redefining success

“I stopped asking, ‘What do I need to achieve this week?’ and started asking, ‘How can I make this week as enjoyable as possible?’ It was a shift from achievement to enjoyment—and it changed how I lived each day.”

On curiosity as practice

“When I wanted to make changes in my life, I didn’t know how. I just turned them into two-week sprints and figured it out. It’s empowering—because you’re building confidence in your own ability to learn and grow.”

Resources & Links

Clare Inkster on LinkedIn
The Curiosity Experiment
The Curiosity Experiment on Instagram
Research and studies on amount of questions we ask through the ages
Clare email address clare@thecuriosityexperiment.co.uk.
Global Curiosity Institute website to measure curiosity https://www.globalcuriosityinstitute.com/diagnostics
Your Brain At Work Book
Top Down vs. Botton Up Processing Video or Article
MIT Study: Your Brain on ChatGPT and Clare LinkedIn Post That Inspired My Question
Blog post about sprints
Satya Nadella article on culture of learn-it-alls

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