Questions

I used to hear Linda Ellerbee tell millions of children each week “If you want to know, ask!”  I would at least like to think I saw some of the profound wisdom in this conjecture, but likely was already lulled to sleep by the only newscast designated specifically for kids, which tried to distill major national and international events to a level ascertainable by children, like draining nectar in a sieve.  The pulp of the grueling, often gruesome details were removed and the more ‘sweet’ and compelling elements of the story were left over for the kids to chew on – although, I suppose you don’t really have to chew nectar since it is already in a pre-masticated form.  Questions have the potential to introduce and bring about many things:  speculation, doubt, more questions, deep pondering, and, hopefully (at least most of the time) answers.  Socrates was refer to by his contemporaries as the gadfly of Athens, in that he stirred up many of the locals and crowds by persistently asking very probing, introspective questions to the point of nuisance, even.  Questions can and should be asked, but there is also a time and place, once a question has been asked to allow for response.  Otherwise, the inquirer is left with the imminent expulsion of another question or consternation over not having his own question answered.  Learning usually happens through questions being asked.  Questions stimulate desire for learning, or at least they should.  Lawyers, at least some, are masters at asking the right questions to learn the truth…or conceal it.  It is not wrong to have questions.  Some systems of thought repel the idea of asking too many questions.  Usually when this is the case, the party being queried has something to hide and fears further questioning would reveal the truth of the matter.  Some elderly adults are better at using online search engines than their supposed technology-savvy grandchildren simply because they know how to formulate good questions, or queries.  

Wisdom is not simply knowing what questions to ask, but also when and how to ask them.  The question that starts with “What do you think…” shows that the inquirer has exorbitant amounts of wisdom.  First, they are demonstrating humility, in that though they likely already know the answer, they want the part being questioned to either discover the answer for themselves, or demonstrate that they already know the answer anyway.   Answering a question with a question is a particular sign of wisdom, unless one is being haughty or brash, because it again demonstrates immense understanding, not just of the subject matter, but more importantly, of human nature.