The magic of curiosity
“Above all, Leonardo’s relentless curiosity and experimentation should remind us of the importance of instilling, in both ourselves and our children, not just received knowledge but a willingness to question it—to be imaginative and, like talented misfits and rebels in any era, to think different.”
Leonardo da Vinci was a master at seeing things that were not yet there. Though most recognized for the Mona Lisa, da Vinci was running experiments and making groundbreaking discoveries centuries before these same experiments and discoveries rose to prominence. Imagine over 500 years ago being able to envision a flying object. He was persistent in his curiosity, imagination and creativity. He was interested in everything. No subject was left unexplored.
While now called a genius, da Vinci was still human and likely had bouts of creative lulls and lack of inspiration. Or so you would assume. The more you read and learn about him, the more you see that his interest in everything translated to a seemingly infinite source of inspiration. Various topics in psychology, architecture, art, botany, and science often led to breakthroughs in unrelated concepts. And what’s more, he documented the lessons and learnings across ~7,200 pages of sketches and notes (and these are just the ones that survived). He was voracious in this pursuit.
For those who have read Walter Isaacson’s biography on Leonardo, you might have already been familiar with a little known fact about da Vinci — he wrote many to-do lists for himself. They were ambitious, broad ranging, and very specific. Here are a few of the items from his lists:
Ask Benedetto Potinari (A Florentine Merchant) by what means they go on ice in Flanders
Draw Milan
Ask Maestro Antonio how mortars are positioned on bastions by day or night.
[Examine] the Crossbow of Mastro Giannetto
Find a master of hydraulics and get him to tell you how to repair a lock, canal and mill in the Lombard manner
Observe the goose’s foot: if it were always open or always closed the creature would not be able to make any kind of movement
Describe the tongue of the woodpecker
da Vinci’s curiosity was supported by spending time with experts who could help accelerate his learning journey. It was recorded in his notebooks that captured all of these observations. And it was executed through powerful habits and processes.
"You know, Leonardo may have been the person with the greatest amount of curiosity of any human who ever existed," Isaacson said. "And he would make lists in his notebooks of things he wanted to know. Like, how do they walk on ice in Holland? Or, describe the tongue of the woodpecker. Now, who in the world would wake up one morning and put on their to-do list “describe the tongue of the woodpecker”? But there it is.”
Pages from Leonardo da Vinci’s early notebook, image via British Library
It was through this process of discovery that da Vinci uncovered many synchronicities and correlations that we benefit from today. He would observe, experiment, and then test for scientific proof. He was adept at combining knowledge with magic and fantasy across subjects, turning the impossible into the possible. With art and science, he managed to make everything more personal. With his paintings for example, his artistic expression led to feeling like you were interacting with the subject of the portrait. Their eyes followed you, inviting you into the story. His art came alive the more deeply he leaned into curiosity.
The lesson here might be to make time for our brains to wander, to get bored, to read a random article that we might want to check out, but isn’t in line with our tasks for the day. To ask the “silly” questions. To take a bit more time. To find some unexpected joy. To lean on others. And yes, to be curious.