Curiosity (from Latin curiosus “careful, diligent, curious,” akin to cura “care”) is a quality related to inquisitive thinking such as exploration, investigation, and learning, evident by observation in human and many animal species^{[citation needed]}. The term can also be used to denote the behavior itself being caused by the emotion of curiosity. As this emotion represents a thirst for knowledge, curiosity is a major driving force behind scientific research and other disciplines of human study.

Although many living beings have an innate capability of curiosity, it should not be categorized as an instinct because it is not a fixed action pattern; rather it is an innate basic emotion because while curiosity can be expressed in many ways, the expression of an instinct is typically more fixed and less flexible. Curiosity is common to human beings at all ages from infancy^[1] through adulthood,^[2] and is easy to observe in many other animal species. These include apes, cats, rodents,^[3] fish, reptiles, and insects; as well as many others.

Many aspects of exploration are shared among all beings, as all known terrestrial beings share similar aspects: limited size and a need to seek out food sources.^[vague]

In fact, in its development as wonder or admiration, it is generally curiosity that makes a human being want to become an expert in a field of knowledge.^{[citation needed]} Though humans are sometimes considered particularly curious,^{[citation needed]} they sometimes seem to miss the obvious when compared to other animals.^{[citation needed]}. What seems to happen is that human curiosity about curiosity itself (i.e. meta-curiosity or meta-interest),^{[citation needed]} combined with the ability to think in an abstract way, leads to mimesis, fantasy and imagination – eventually leading to an especially human way of thinking (“human reason“), which is abstract and self-aware, or conscious

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