Abstract
Intrinsically motivated information seeking is an expression of curiosity believed to be central to human nature. However, most curiosity research relies on small, Western convenience samples. Here, we analyze a naturalistic population of 482,760 readers using Wikipedia's mobile app in 14 languages from 50 countries or territories. By measuring the structure of knowledge networks constructed by readers weaving a thread through articles in Wikipedia, we replicate two styles of curiosity previously identified in laboratory studies: the nomadic "busybody" and the targeted "hunter." Further, we find evidence for another style-the "dancer"-which was previously predicted by a historico-philosophical examination of texts over two millennia and is characterized by creative modes of knowledge production. We identify associations, globally, between the structure of knowledge networks and population-level indicators of spatial navigation, education, mood, well-being, and inequality. These results advance our understanding of Wikipedia's global readership and demonstrate how cultural and geographical properties of the digital environment relate to different styles of curiosity.