Acharya Prashant explains that what is commonly referred to as curiosity is often not a genuine desire to know, but rather a superficial mechanism used by the mind to avoid going deeper. He points out that when a listener develops a question while someone is speaking, their mind becomes occupied with that question, causing them to miss the actual essence of the talk. This type of curiosity acts as a hidden strategy to avoid true understanding; it is a conspiracy against knowing rather than a path toward it. By focusing on a question, the individual remains on the surface and prevents themselves from entering the depths of the subject matter. He further elaborates that true inquiry, which he terms as the desire for liberation or 'Mumuksha', is much deeper than mere curiosity. While curiosity often arises from the background of one's accumulated knowledge and acts as a resistance to new information that does not fit existing paradigms, 'Mumuksha' is a direct question about one's own existence. It is not about asking why things are a certain way externally, but about questioning the very core of one's being and why one exists at all. Most common dialogues and inquiries are actually attempts at self-preservation, where the ego tries to protect its established identity from being challenged. Acharya Prashant concludes that curiosity can often be 'anti-inquiry' because it serves as an armor to protect the internal system from transformative truths. When the mind senses that a discussion might strike at its core, it generates questions as a defensive shield. He clarifies that he is not against curiosity itself but advocates for it to evolve into something deeper. He encourages curiosity to transform into self-inquiry and a sincere longing for self-knowledge, moving beyond the mere preservation of the old self toward a fundamental questioning of existence.