The talk will discuss approaches aimed at understanding the computational mechanisms that help humans form beliefs about the whole world based on just a subset of information sampled throughout a lifetime. We’ll start in infancy, with humans who have to sort where to start when they know little about the world, and discuss how they leverage simple learning mechanisms to eventually create sophisticated systems of concepts and beliefs. We’ll discuss the role of boredom in knowledge acquisition. We’ll review what Kidd Lab research has taught us about why we are curious about some things but not others, and how our past experiences and existing knowledge shape our future interests. We’ll also discuss why people sometimes hold beliefs that are inconsistent with evidence available in the world, and how we might leverage our knowledge of human curiosity and learning to design systems that better support access to truth and reality.