What Would Bewitch Benjamin Franklin Today? Practice Positive Curiosity Yourself
Did you ever watch the popular 1960s/70s TV sitcom Bewitched? Darrin, an ad executive, is married to Samantha, a witch who can twitch her nose and do magic.
One episode among many that stuck with me was from Season 3. When Samantha’s lamp breaks, her Aunt Clara, also a witch, uses her unreliable magical powers to summon an electrician.
It’s Benjamin Franklin from the 1700s.
Even though he was one of the smartest men of his time, he was befuddled by the simplest things in the modern culture.
I often wonder what it would be like to pop into our time from long ago. Even within my own lifetime, just today, I experienced things I never would have understood even 30 years ago. This morning I had a video conversation from my car with my grandson a hundred miles away in his home. I used GPS on my telephone to navigate directions. I hotspotted my mobile internet to my laptop to google the Bewitched TV show, finding the full episode of “My Friend Ben” from December 8, 1966, available to stream online via Apple TV.
Facetime? Hotspot? Google? Streaming? Apple TV?
Who could have dreamed of this? Not even Benjamin Franklin, I’d guess. (But maybe the Jetsons?)
And what’s yet to come?
Chang Yee, known as “The Silent Traveler,” was a Chinese poet and artist, 1903-1977. He often wrote from a “sideways look” perspective, noticing things in other cultures that didn’t make sense from his own.
I read about Chang Yee in Shaun Bythell’s book, Seven Kinds of People You Find in Bookshops.
“Yee’s appeal was based on his unusual way of looking at the world. He interpreted the everyday with a ‘positive curiosity’; he was acutely aware that even the most mundane of activities—from washing clothes to walking dogs—could become a subject of bewildering fascination when observed through the eyes of a stranger who lacks the benefit of familiar cultural reference points.”
Can we do this too, even inside our own culture? Can we imagine what it would be like to see a TV for the first time? Or a hair blow dryer? Or a microwave oven?
Can we go even further and imagine with “bewildering fascination” what it would be like to hear a current political view for the first time? Or a religious dogma? Or any other topic that might seem controversial to someone removed from our culture?
If we can imagine it—with a “positive curiosity”—maybe we can soften toward others who can’t understand us. Maybe we can be more patient with those who disagree. Maybe we can show grace to those who think we’re crazy.
Can curiosity expand this direction?
Yes, I believe so.
I can’t remember if Benjamin Franklin did indeed fix Samantha’s lamp before Aunt Clara remembered how to reverse her spell, sending him back into his own era.
Maybe I’ll get curious enough to rewatch the episode and find out.
Were you a Bewitched fan, too? Share in the comments.
I love the perspective you’ve shared here, Lisa. It really made me stop and consider my own reactions to the thousands of new things I’ve seen in my lifetime, and how I adapted to it.
Yes, I do remember Bewitched, but I never saw the Ben Franklin episode. Maybe, I need to look it up!
wow this word is going to lead you – and us – into many lessons and new ways to seeing life. Curiosity is a key neighbor to imagination I would guess. Openness too. You got me thinking today, Lisa! Have a great weekend.
I had a sort of Ben Franklin moment in the car yesterday. I was listening to NPR and an ad came on for SOMETHING… but the combination of acronyms and techno language left me completely in the dark. I had no idea what the product was or why anyone would want it, and suddenly felt very obsolete. Clearly the universe is not marketing itself with me in mind!
These are great thoughts. I think being curious has (or can have) a natural side effect of an open mind. When we are open to looking at something differently, I think we’re open to a lot of things. That often leads to growth. (I loved watching “Bewitched,” by the way!) Visiting from the Crazy Little Lovebirds Linkup.
These words, “If we can imagine it—with a “positive curiosity”—maybe we can soften toward others who can’t understand us. Maybe we can be more patient with those who disagree. Maybe we can show grace to those who think we’re crazy.” really have me thinking where my one word “Kindness” will take me this year and how it will tie in with this positive curiosity. I’m fairly certain there’s a connection.
There are so many things we can be curious about! I like the term “positive curiosity.” I remember in my early 20’s reading a news magazine article about the possibility of using bank card for cash (what we know as the debit card now). Someone with curiosity asked the question: Is it possible pay cash without cash? And then the debit card was born! 🙂 I’m learning to ask others “I’m curious, why do you (think, believe, say) that….?” instead of whole-heartedly disagreeing. After they disagree, I still may not agree with their position, but my curiosity helps me to understand their position better, and the bonus is I also learn something new.
Ahh! I remember watching Bewitched.
It is crazy to think that even this time 20 years ago some things that we have now didn’t exist, especially with technology.
Yesterday I was in an electronics shop and was looking at the iPhones, I hadn’t seen on for years and was fascinated at the newer one’s.
Fantastic post!
Oh, I remember Bewitched?. It was fun.
I often think about the amazing advances in technology in my lifetime. When I first moved to Israel, I queued for hours to use the phone to call my parents in the UK, maybe once or twice a month at the most. Now I can message my dad from my mobile phone whenever I want and we can video talk and share photos too. Amazing!
#MMBC
Bewitched was such a fun show! I still remember watching it and it’s amazing how time flies by so quickly. Your post was great and raised a really interesting topic to think about. Thank you for sharing it with us at Crazy Little Love Birds link party #20.
Loved Bewitched when I was a kid. Today, I don’t know if Benjamin Franklin would be as bewitched by tech — wasn’t he the one with the kite? — as by the contemporary culture turning against progress, and the general lack of curiosity in society.
Practicing positive curiosity can definitely lead us to adventure and exploration, Lisa! Our oldest daughter was a missionary for twelve years, and the cultural differences in the three countries she lived in were similar in some areas but vastly different in others. Travel opens our perspective of regional, national, or international differences. Food is one way to use our curiosity to explore different cultures. Lisa, I think you are going to have a great year with your WOTY!
I loved watching Bewitched and I remember this episode! (Although I can’t remember if Benjamin Franklin actually managed to fix the light either.) I really enjoyed reading this post. You raise some very important points and I found it really thought-provoking, especially from the idea of seeing others’ points of view about unfamiliar things. Thank you for sharing with Hearth and Soul. I’ve featured this post at the February party which has just gone live now. Hope to see you there! Thank you for being a part of the Hearth and Soul Community!