Through the Prism with Scott Shigeoka

Scott Shigeoka is an internationally recognized curiosity expert, speaker, and the author of "Seek: How Curiosity Can Transform Your Life and Change the World." He is known for popularizing research that promotes positive well-being and relationships around the globe, including at UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center and through his groundbreaking courses at the University of Texas at Austin. He is also an artist working on a play, a feature film, and a musical.

What is one of your earliest memories of the power of human connection?

We were three generations packed into a 700-square-foot house in my small town on the island of Oahu in Hawaii, so my favorite place as a kid to roam was outside in our yard. There, a huge mango tree my grandfather planted soared up into the sky. Each season, it would produce colorful ripe mangoes that we would pick with a long bamboo stick with a metal claw at the end. My grandparents had to hold the stick with me to stabilize it because it was five times taller than I was.

My grandparents always taught me the importance of generosity as a force for connection, which is why, after we picked the mangoes, we would put them into plastic bags and hand-deliver them to different people: the Koshis next door, the Higas across the street, and other neighbors on our road. We also gave mangoes to our mailman, trash pick-up crew, the bus driver who took us to the beach, the cashier at our local grocery store, and so many others.

This experience taught me as a child that the gift of fruit can plant the seeds for conversations and connections. It reminds us that the power of human connection can start with the simple act of giving.

What values guide your personal life and your work?

The most important value I have brought into my life and work is curiosity, which is why I wrote a whole book about it!

This desire to understand doesn’t just build up our knowledge; it is also a force for connection and transformation. When we extend our heartfelt curiosity and get to know someone’s stories and perspectives, the relationships that are important to them, or their values and beliefs, we begin to penetrate beyond their surface layers. In other words, we reach their soul.

Making the wholeness of a person visible through our curiosity is really about the work of mattering and belonging. I truly believe that curiosity is how we begin to love and forge a sense of belonging.

When did a person or experience change your mind about an idea or belief?

Led by my curiosity, I went on a yearlong road trip across the country to Trump rallies and churches as a queer, progressive, Asian-American who spent most of my adult life in the San Francisco Bay Area. I wrote about this experience in The Guardian, and it’s also a throughline in my book "SEEK."

My ideas and beliefs of who a Trump voter was and what they care about completely shifted during this curiosity voyage. For instance, when I went to my first Trump rally in Minnesota, I met a man who was an optometrist and did mission trips, who surprised me when he said LGBTQ+ people deserve equality, too. He squashed my views that a Trump voter would not be affirming of queer folks like me.

I met another man who lived in a rural town who told me he believed in climate change because he saw the effects of it in his daily life. Throughout the day and evening, I met dozens of Trump voters who nuanced my understanding of who “they” were. I realized that "they" were not just a single monolithic group.

Some even shared perspectives or life experiences that were similar to my own. We wanted the same things in life: a love for family, service, and connection. Conversing with the people I met on my road trip made “them” less scary and opened my heart to see the person before their politics, which expanded my sense of “us.”

What are you working on right now?

On the professional front, I'm focused on spreading the gospel of curiosity and how it is the most potent force for connection. And thankfully, we are all born with it. I'm also speaking at companies, schools, universities, police departments, faith institutions, conferences, and other diverse venues worldwide about the power of curiosity. If you are interested in bringing me to your organization or event, please reach out to me here.

As an artist, I’m working on a theatrical piece called VISITATION HOUR, which is about a 17-year-old Japanese-American boy searching for understanding and connection with his incarcerated father. It is a two-person dramatic comedy that is based on the true story of my father’s incarceration and the memories I have of visiting him. I’m also a co-writer for an animated feature film with a group of ex-Pixar creators, highlighting the experience of modern teenage boyhood that includes themes like gaming, emotions, and belonging.

Finally, to be in service of others and not just my pursuits, I have served as a creative consultant and advisor for many bridging initiatives like the Greater Good Science Center, Co-Generate, New Pluralists, and Constructive Dialogue Institute, as well as a climate change initiative in Hollywood called Good Energy.

What is giving you hope? What positive visions do you have for our future?

After the wildfires set in and wreak havoc on the forest, tiny fire morel mushrooms fruit on what seems like a barren and dead landscape. They represent the beginning of a journey of healing. These morels help steward islands of life that are the building blocks for fertile soil needed for the birth of new growth, such as shrubs and trees.

Seeing how nature is interconnected, heals, and regenerates has always given me hope and provides a vision for our collective future. We must continue to nurture the constellation of efforts working toward connection and belonging — just like the vast mycelial network working underneath the forest floor. We must also prop up new ideas and leaders in our movements, representing the islands of life that form after a devastating fire. Our investment into culture and narrative efforts are the building blocks for the fertile soil where new seeds can grow and thrive. The youngest in our society — those born this year to those in their early 20s — will become the new (over)story that provides protection and life for the generation that follow.