A Curious Mind and a Curious Book

"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious."
Albert Einstein

IT SEEMS LIKE A GOOD idea to start a book about curiosity by asking an obvious question:

What's a guy like me doing writing a book about curiosity?

I'm a movie and TV producer. I live immersed in the most densely populated epicenter of entertainment in the world: Hollywood.

Whatever picture you have of the life of a Hollywood movie producer, I've probably lived it. We often have ten or more movies and TV shows in production at a time, so work means meeting with actors, writers, directors, musicians. The phone calls—with agents, producers, studio heads, stars—start well before I reach the office, and often follow me home in the car. I fly to the movie sets, I screen the trailers, I go to the red-carpet premieres.

My days are hectic, they're overscheduled, they're sometimes frustrating. Usually, they're great fun. They're never dull.

But I'm not a journalist or a professor. I'm not a scientist. I don't go home at night and research psychology as a secret hobby.

I'm a Hollywood producer.

So what am I doing writing a book about curiosity?

Without curiosity, none of this would have happened.

More than intelligence or persistence or connections, curiosity has allowed me to live the life I wanted.

Curiosity is what gives energy and insight to everything else I do. I love show business, I love telling stories. But I loved being curious long before I loved the movie business.

For me, curiosity infuses everything with a sense of possibility. Curiosity has, quite literally, been the key to my success, and also the key to my happiness.

And yet, for all the value that curiosity has brought to my life and my work, when I look around, I don't see people talking about it, writing about it, encouraging it, and using it nearly as widely as they could. Curiosity has been the most valuable quality, the most important resource, the central motivation of my life. I think curiosity should be as much a part of our culture, our educational system, our woceptrkplaces, as cons like "creativity" and "innovation."

That's why I decided to write a book about curiosity. It made my life better (and still does). It can make your life better too.