Asking the right Questions
How often have you been asked hollow questions; questions whose answers are next to being the most obvious? The evolution of technology and the affinity to it sadly hasn’t resulted into evolving people into becoming more inquisitive. What’s even worse is that the affinity to social platforms has made us even more dumb; people tend to ask the question out loud than try to find the answer by themselves. We tend to take the concept of the “5 Whys” a little too seriously.
The answer for the above question was in front of him the whole time, and if not he had the means to find the answer as well.
There was a time when curiosity was satisfied by mediums such as books, newspapers and public records. That was the time when your naivety (or perceived naivety) was justified, and that made you smarter. The questions that you asked were much different than what they are now. Or are they? A sense of curiosity is what differentiates us. Evolution did its job of putting us in the place we are now and the only way we can progress is if we truly believe that we are not the masters of our place.
It’s when we make peace with what we don’t know is when we proceed. The fact that we believe that we are the only habitable planet in the entire universe is a simple display of naivety that I’m talking about. We tend to close our eyes and ears (symbolically) and convince ourselves that we know best because we’ve been told to believe only in what we see, hear and touch. Keep an open mind, learn to question everything. The answers may surprise you!
It’s like looking into the mirror and wondering whether it hides a parallel dimension, a parallel dimension where everything is merely a reflection of your reality. Theoretically as you know, that’s a possibility that we have to consider. But imagine that the mirror is your sense of curiosity; it allows you to see what you merely thought was not possible!
When you’re satisfied with your answer is when progress takes a back seat. Arriving at an answer is merely a means to presenting an argument. Good questions are those that can be answered only with perspectives. The worst are those that can be answered with a Yes or No.
In retrospect, our questions should always seem naive.
The Curiosity FrameworkThe curiosity framework is what I call the outcome of my introspection and retrospection. Every scenario in life can be solved by using this simple framework. It might seem like the most obvious one you’ve read, because it is.
Okay yes the framework might seem like the manifestation of my sarcasm, but maybe its the only way the concept of curiosity can be taken seriously. And if you think about it, all the answers to your problems in life can be found by starting with being curious and not by being ignorant. Easier said than done, right?
Be curious, be starry eyed, be unsatisfied and always believe that there’s a better way out there. Even when you’ve just found one.
