From
Charlie Munger: The Complete Investor:
"Curiosity can provide both fun and wisdom, and occasionally trouble." —CHARLIE MUNGER, POOR CHARLIE’S ALMANACK, 2005
Curiosity about life and restraint about difficult decisions are part of Munger’s approach to life. Seeking more information about a topic, even though it has no present value to a person, is a natural human drive. One can speculate that having this information has option value. However, the price of too much curiosity can be high. Finding the right balance in things involving tradeoffs like curiosity is a key part of acquiring wisdom.
An example of a problem arising from too much curiosity would be a tycoon who is curious to see whether he or she can finally be the person to make a long-term profit in the airline business. There’s an old joke on this plan: “How do you become a millionaire? Start as a billionaire and buy an airline.” Buffett himself jokes that he has a toll-free number he can call which will talk him out of investing in airlines whenever he gets the urge. Curiosity can also cause an investor to engage in too many activities or a business owner to offer too many products and services, but end up failing by offering none. Startup founders can end up repeatedly “pivoting” their business (i.e., changing business models or business categories) into oblivion if they overload on curiosity. At the same time, curiosity can lead to important breakthroughs for a business. Striking the right balance on something like curiosity requires judgment.
