Curiosity is a catch-all cure — it makes you genuinely interested in others, shifts your own brain out of negative emotional states, and solves problems that seem unrelated.
Sam argues that cultivating genuine curiosity acts as a universal remedy: it makes people feel important, helps you shift out of self-loathing or guilt, and solves problems in unexpected ways. ✦ AI generated
Sam · My First Million · 2026-07-31 · original ↗
starts at this moment · 33:40
Curiosity's like one of these grandma's remedies where it's like, 'Oh, I have pneumonia.' And it's like, 'Put some whiskey in the pancakes and that'll do it.' It's like, 'What? That doesn't make any sense.' And then it like works. It's curiosity's kind of like that where almost all these unrelated problems can be solved with curiosity. I'll give you an example. One is what we're talking about here, which is when you're actually curious about somebody, you will appear interested in them because you are interested in them and then they feel interesting and they feel like you took an interest in them, they feel an affinity towards you. Great, that's one. You this works with yourself, too. So a lot of times I'll talk to my trainer, my coach. And let's say I'm feeling bad about something. What most people try to do is they say, 'Don't feel bad. Feel good. It's okay.' And like don't feel bad is pretty poor advice when you're feeling bad about something. And instead he just says like, 'Don't feel bad, just get curious.' And he's like, 'Just lean into it. Like, get curious about it. What is that? Why do you feel that way?' And as soon as you start getting curious, it's almost like the cloud moves away, the sun starts to peer through, and your brain literally shifts state into a more childlike curious state of mind, and it takes the edge off. It takes the guilt or the shame or the self-loathing off of whatever it is you're doing.
verbatim transcript · starts at 33:40
33:40those like grandma's remedies where it's like, "Oh, I have uh pneumonia." And it's like, "Put some whiskey in the pancakes and that'll do it." It's like, "What? That doesn't make any sense." And then it like works. It's curiosity's kind of like that where almost all these unrelated problems can be solved with curiosity. I'll give you an example. Um one is what one is what we're talking about here, which is when you're when
34:02you're actually curious about somebody, you will appear interested in them because you are interested in them and then they feel interesting and they feel like you took an you know, because you took an interest in them, they uh feel an affinity towards you. Great, that's one. You this works with yourself, too. So a lot of times I I'll talk to my my trainer, my coach. And um let's say I'm
34:20feeling bad about something. What most people try to do is they say, "Don't feel bad. Feel good. It's okay." And like don't feel bad is pretty poor advice when you're feeling bad about something. And instead he just says like, "Don't feel bad, just get curious." And he's like, "Just get lean into it. Like, get curious about it. What is that? Why do you feel that way? You know, um hm, has it ever happened
34:40before?" And as soon as you start getting curious, it's almost like the cloud moves away, the sun starts to peer through, and cuz your brain literally shifts state into a into a more childlike curious state of mind, and it takes the edge off. It takes the guilt or the shame or the the the self-loathing off of whatever it is you're doing. It's so so weird. You would never expect curiosity to be a
35:01cure for for some some of these moments, of these moods, but it is. It tends to be. And so, just getting curious about something I I would say is a is kind of like a catch-all, um you know, cure for for for things. >> And what's funny is like I was a pretty awkward teenager. I would say I'm still a pretty awkward guy. Uh and I like went
35:18and like read books on like good questions to ask people to like have a conversation. And I even follow these guys on Instagram how to do it. But the best people I found was that show on the spectrum, the dating show with autistic the kids. And I stole so many questions that I ask people. So, if I'm like at like a dinner party or I'm talking to