Curious About Intellectual Curiosity

I, like many people, am by nature intellectually curious. Today in class we were talking about the caduceus and how it relates to the Nehushtan in Numbers 21. One student mentioned it was similar to the staff of Asclepius. I didn't know much about said staff, so I looked it up after class. I love that stuff, being informed and the pursuit of knowledge.

Sarah Palin and George Bush strike me as people who lack this intellectual curiosity. I guess I'd include just about everyone who thinks that the world is 6000 years young and that dinosaurs co-existed with humans until the flood. I know that must sound smug to some people. And creationists are often nice people. I've had many friends and relatives over the years who believe this, some of them even people who would be described in many measures as intelligent. But they don't seem to me to be intellectually curious. One hour until the VP debate. I'm sure the expectations for Palin have been made to be so low that whatever she does will be a huge victory.