Asking questions 09.25.2011

I can't stress how important it is that a person should always ask questions. Asking questions keeps your brain active and constantly looking for something new to discover. i would like to argue that asking questions keeps a person humble and open for new information, because when you ask a question you are admitting that you do not know the answer to everything. You're admitting you have a 'flaw'.

I like asking questions. As often as I can and about as many divergent things as possible. It's a road to personal discovery and it is something that comforts me, I guess. Just knowing how certain things behave or function the way they do, even if it's not understanding something at a scientist level, just grasping the basics of things makes a big difference.

I'm rather disappointed so many people have lost the ability to ask questions. It almost seems like people are afraid to ask questions. It's quite sad really. People are being told things when they are kids, when they are basically defenseless not having formed critical thinking or sound reasoning skills yet. So you believe whatever the older people tell you is true. Then in comes school and that's where the fear of asking questions kicks in, I think. You are forced to cram things in your head from a book and then you are tested on how well you remember the things you've tried to force into your brain. (Not actual skill or applied wisdom, no, pure mnemonics) Guess what happens if you say "I can't remember" or "I don't know"? You fail some test and you are supposed to feel bad about not knowing this thing because it was right there in the book, stupid! Why didn't you study harder? Why didn't you know?

I realize that, of course, not knowing the answer to a history exam is not quite the same as not knowing what a human earlobe is useful for. But it's because we are taught that not knowing something is wrong, asking a question about something means you don't know, which means asking a question a bad thing to do. So in the end people generally won't stop and think "Funny things these earlobes, why do we have them? Why are this man's earlobes detached and this woman's lobes aren't??".

Will knowing why our ears have dangling lobes save your life? Probably not. But having an inquisitive and curious mind set to the hows, whats and whys will let you assess all kinds of information better. It'll be one extra step preventing you from believing any random story. A story which you might base a belief on. A belief which will guide your actions. Actions which will, more than likely, affect other people.

Ignorance isn't bliss. Don't be afraid to ask a question out loud, odds are other people around you will not know the answer either, if you're lucky however, someone does and you just grew a little.