OPINION: Curiosity critical for those involved in Jan. 6 probe

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Sadly, social media has entrenched us to more and more in our own little bubbles. And there are some negative ramifications to that. If you’re only reading the bullet points of your political persuasion or you’re only on the social media feeds of those that agree with you, you will lose your curiosity.

I’m telling you divisiveness kills curiosity, isolation kills curiosity.

As the Jan. 6 insurrection hearing gets underway, are we missing the important values of curiosity and possibility?

Important background on the Jan. 6 probe

The select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol convened for the first time Tuesday to hear testimony from four police officers who worked to shield the Capitol from the mob of Trump supporters.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) both said they did not watch Tuesday’s opening hearing of the select committee.

Before the hearing began, McCarthy and his fellow GOP House leaders held a press conference outside the Capitol in which they blamed Pelosi, not former President Trump, for the insurrection.

The speaker of the House is not in charge of Capitol security.

Probe needs curiosity to succeed

If you believe that another person is worthless because they disagree with you, your ability to be curious and to actually learn, grow, develop, and progress is stifled. We saw that in action on the House floor this week. 

Republican lawmakers on Wednesday protested the reinstatement of the House floor mask mandate the previous evening, with several members of the minority party refusing to wear a face covering.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) dismissed McCarthy’s comments criticizing the rules for mask wearing being put in place for the House, calling him a “moron.”

Name-calling gets us no answers

Think of all of the great breakthroughs in the history of this world. They’ve all happened because of curiosity — because somebody was curious about something. When we think know it all, we stop asking questions and curiosity disappears.

Instead of immediately launching a verbal assault the moment you hear something from an opposing point of view or political party, what if you became curious? What if you asked yourself, ‘I wonder why they believe that?’

If we would only be a little bit more curious and a little less critical, we come up with a whole lot better solutions.

Don’t ever let division and isolation kill your curiosity because it kills a whole lot else along the way.

Inside Sources with Boyd Matheson can be heard weekdays from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on KSL NewsRadio. Users can find the show on the KSL NewsRadio website and app.