“You should value not the answer, but the question. The question is the source of curiosity. The answer stops the curiosity. But the question, as it persists, it stokes curiosity. So if your kid asks you something you know the answer to, say, let's find out.”
StarTalk Radio · Ideas & Essays · November 2026
Context
Klepper said he is raising a young child and asked what toolkit the child will need in an AI-heavy world. Tyson answered that the toolkit is curiosity, then gave this advice on how a parent can protect it.
Transcript
agreement with your wife. Yes, that information stays here. It does not get out.
Do not tell my child. Do not tell my child. I think my child is figuring that out. Yes. All
right. So you should value not the answer, but the question. The question is the source of curiosity. The answer stops the curiosity. But the question, as it persists, it stokes curiosity. So if your kid asks you something you know the answer to, say, let's find out. What would be a way to find out? And get in the car and drive there? What color is the sun when it sets? Get in the car, go to a sunset and observe and think about it and do things that feed the curiosity with your five and a half year old. And if your five and a half year old remains curious through those turbulent hormonal years, they'll come out the other side as a scientist or as a minimum scientifically literate. So they will never be exploited ever by someone who is ignorant of the laws of physics trying to sell you something to the contrary.
How do I make my kid a venture capitalist? Do you have that answer? Because I think that's going to be much more literally. You want to secure
retirement as they support you. Yeah, I can't help you there.
Your thing sound nice. That sounds nice as well. So
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