The Human Curiosity Index (HCI)
The HCI is a perpetually growing archive of questions, and related answers, across all fields, from science to religion, art, and myth. The HCI will be an accessible database used for everything from games to books to art to articles to songs to recipes to whatever else people can imagine.
Curiosity begins with (asking) why.
Since the dawn of time, children (and adults) have been asking "why", and we have invented myth, philosophy, religion, and science all as ways to try to answer the question.
If we take a basic question like "why does a rainbow appear after the rain?", every culture seems to have had its own way to answer that question. And for people of faith, the scientific answer doesn't necessarily contradict the traditional answer. According to the Bible, for example, the answer is the God made a pact with Noah that he would never destroy the world again with a flood. In Norse mythology, the rainbow is the bridge between multiple worlds. In Greek myth and religion, the rainbow is Iris, who is a messenger for the gods.
Viewing the rainbow as a bridge or a messaging system is not a crazy idea, considering that we now use fiber-optics which effectively transmit information using light, which is all the rainbow is.
Regardless of whether or not you believe in the Greek myth, the word iris is now part of many languages, which means that it doesn't matter or not whether the goddess Iris ever existed. The eye now captures images from the world and send synapses as messages to our brain.
Something which is often overlooked about myth-making (as ways to answer why), especially in light of the advent of science is that we tend to forget the different observations or value judgements which were embedded within the myths which can teach us not only about the specific culture, but what the commonalities in how people wondered and what they observed.
Similarly, questions like "does the soul exist?", "do we have free will?", and "why do angels have wings?" are as valid as "why is the sky blue?", "why are there clouds?", "why is the grass green?", and "why do fireflies light up?". Each one has been explored, asked, and debated by scientists, scholars, and writers for millennia. If it has been asked by anyone from a child to a philosopher or a scientist, then it is valid.
INSPIRATION
In the spirit of the Aarne-Thompson-Uther (ATU) Index of folklore, the Institute will create an index of questions, and will attach to each entry all the various answers that have been proffered through history, literature, art, written and oral myth, and science, treating each one as equally valid.