The Myth of Curiosity: The Story of Deniz Tudor

Every career article repeats the same advice: stay curious. It sounds inspiring, but it rarely changes anyone. Curiosity is treated as a decision, when in reality it is the result of something much deeper.

Deniz Tudor took a different approach, and her reason was simple: “If I don’t learn something in one single day,” she says, “it bothers me.”

Her career reflects that mindset. Growing up in Turkey during years of high inflation, she became fascinated by uncertainty and economics.

That curiosity took her to a PhD in econometrics, teaching MBAs during the Lehman Brothers collapse, product innovation at Moody’s Analytics, senior banking roles, derivatives, and eventually a master’s in law, earned through four-hour exams on Saturday nights after full work weeks, because a question would not leave her alone.

Her personal rule is simple: “You get out when you stop learning.”

But there is another pattern. Her curiosity is strategic, not scattered.

Every new subject she pursues connects to something she already commands. Artificial intelligence grew naturally from her mathematics. Decentralized finance grew from her banking.

Each new skill multiplies the value of everything she learned before it.

Her knowledge compounds. That sounds like curiosity in action.

The real question, however, is why her curiosity never disappeared.

Most children are naturally curious. Most professionals gradually stop exploring, not because they lose intelligence, but because they become afraid: of not looking knowledgeable, of instability, of leaving what is comfortable.

Deniz approaches uncertainty differently.

Rather than avoiding risk, she evaluates it. She accepts that some decisions may fail, prepares for multiple outcomes, and moves forward anyway.

“Sometimes you have to be okay with uncertainty.” More importantly, she is

comfortable being the least knowledgeable person in the room.

That is only possible because her confidence was never built on appearing knowledgeable.

Years ago, she decided what she was genuinely good at, mathematics, and stopped pretending to excel at everything else.

“You have to be okay with what you’re good at and what you’re bad at.”

That perspective allowed her to join a swim team despite not knowing how to swim. Instead of embarrassment, she remembers it as one of her favorite experiences, because beginners learn the fastest.