The 3 Most Damaging Words You Can Tell Your Son

[lumberjack_jeff]

68. Curiosity tends to work differently in boys and girls.

That is not to say that either tends to be less curious than the other, but....

<flame suit on>
I'll just say what I observe. Curiosity tends to incline boys to look for ways that they can manipulate objects, phenomena and the environment to create desired outcomes and act as manifestations of personal power; E.G. making things go faster/be louder/blow up/win in competition.

Curiosity tends to incline girls to look for ways that they can manipulate relationships to create desired outcomes and act as manifestations of personal power.

There are, of course, exceptions to every rule. Some men really don't understand why other men are intrigued by their fascination with loud competitive stuff, and some women really don't understand why other women are fascinated by drama, clothing and appearance.
<flame suit off>

If my 15 year old was interested in the kinds of things you described, I'd subscribe to Make magazine. It's an excellent, fun and well-written guide for that kind of curiosity. I just spent a couple of hours reading the Make guide to Electronics, and it's the best educational resource for electronics that I've ever read.