Good or bad, curiosity is woven into our DNA like tonsils or the opposable thumb. It's the fire under the ass of the human experience.

Weil argues that people take drugs because they are means of satisfying an inner need for experiencing other forms of consciousness. He believes that the desire to alter consciousness periodically is an innate, normal drive equivalent to hunger or sexual drive.

Are people born with a desire to change their levels of consciousness? No. Rather, they are born with a basic curiosity about the world around them. Curiosity is defined as an eagerness to know about something or to get information. The concept of curiosity is central to motivation. The term can be used as both a description of a specific behavior as well as a hypothetical construct to explain the same behavior. Curiosity is a motivational prerequisite for...