Election season often highlights a range of hot-button topics, from abortion to immigration, which becomes trickier to navigate when conversations pop up with friends or at the dinner table. While we’re often told to be curious about other perspectives, many of us do not know where to start. Worse, we don’t know how to stay curious about issues that elicit our strong opinions. In this interview, curiosity expert Scott Shigeoka shares his research and in-the-field experience using curiosity to navigate polarizing issues. Scott talks about the personal benefits experience when people are curious. He goes on to talk about how people can become more curious and why maintaining boundaries and earning the right to be curious are important. He finishes the discussion by sharing what he learned on a year-long, 4,500 mile “curiosity journey” across the United States that gave him the opportunity to meet, talk with, and connect with people from a wide variety of backgrounds.

Scott Shigeoka is a globally recognized curiosity expert, speaker, and the award-winning author of SEEK: How Curiosity Can Transform Your Life and Change the World. He popularizes research that promotes positive well-being and relationships, including at UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center and through his groundbreaking courses at the University of Texas at Austin. He has spoken at universities, schools, companies, and conferences around the world. He is also a screenwriter and playwright.