As a kid, my favorite word was “why” and my favorite punctuation was a “?”
As a teenager, I was always told to “shut up” when I found questions with no answers. Its actually weird. As human beings, we are so caught up in finding the right answers that no one thinks about asking the right question.
Like a right answer, a right question has all the essential characteristics such as being close-ended, defined, and objective. However, unlike a right answer, it does not require the support of knowledge or previous experience–not necessarily.
A right question requires the most bizzare circumstances. There is no logic involved. There is no systematic process of enquiry. There is only an insight.
For instance, a man walking through rain with an umbrella and a book; he stops under a bridge when he has no reason to; suddenly, he thinks someone without an umbrella and who is interested in the book that he is reading is going to stop by. A friend arrives just as the thought passes by. The friend is without an umbrella and has been wanting to read that book for a while. The moment passes. In retrospect, he wonders, “How did that happen”?
For instance, as a kid this boy was always interested in Science, particularly biology but was never good at communicating–something he was always ridiculed for by one and all. As he grew up, while the penchant for biology continued, so did the continued frustration at not being able to communicate. He took up a job as a doctor and his communication was at best, targeted at his patient. One fine day, he woke up and decided he won’t practice anymore and would try best to communicate his knowledge. One thing led on to another and in a couple of years, he was working in an organization as a Communications manager. In retrospect, he wonders, “How did that happen”?
That brings us back to the issue that we started with. What is a right question??
I think, the right question or questions are those directed at ourselves. These are the questions that have already been answered through our actions or reactions. The questions are often goaded by an element of absurdity in the responses, often characterized by lack of reason or enquiry.
It is amazing that we find several ways to question the motives underlying an action of another person; to an extent, we even question the motives and reasons for our own actions; however, we dont necessarily question how they came about. In finding the why’s we lose the how’s
As a kid, the novelty of the world prompts us to ask “why” of everything
As an adult, it is the how’s that help us figure out how best the world adapts to our needs.
Thus, I firmly believe that it is the how’s that would help us in finding directions in our individual lives.
Leave the “why’s” for others while reserving the “how’s” for yourself. It makes life worthwhile
