Not unlike play and honesty, curiosity is a plague on efficiency. And such claims are to be expected and understood by now. Nevertheless, a brief and reasonable explanation. Curiosity is not simply inquisitive thinking; it is an active process. A self-initiated course for discovering how, why or what if. A natural process similar to something like sleep or urination in that it is often void of conscious thought and reason. Dissimilar in that it can be rationalized as unnecessary. Many paths of curiosity end up as dead ends or lengthy detours leading nowhere. An outcome to which a capitalists would recognize as a waste of time, a waste of energy, and thus inefficient.

  For instance, a small boy, fueled by curiosity, climbs a small tree in his backyard. He reaches an apex of 15 feet, at which point he scans the horizon for a minute or so and retreats back down. He had no conscious goals before and nothing to show afterwards. An action that was unreasoned and unproductive and thus uneconomic. But the truly curious have no concern with outcomes. Maybe something good will result, maybe something bad, and as in this case, maybe nothing will happen at all. Desires for success and fears of failure are of little concern, for curiosity is the motivation of maybes.

  On the other hand, mature adults choose behaviors likely to avoid unfavorable outcomes and yield desired results. Maybes mean risk, signify danger, and increase heart rate. Motivations are logical and formulaic; something like time = money. This is the growth and education of modern man where college tuitions and credits conquer curiosities.