Questions
If you don't know, ask.
This is such a simple principle that even children can understand it. What is communication but the pursuit of understanding? And the way in which we strive yo understand each other is by asking questions. It seems to be the most natural thing in the world but growing into adults, people lose sight of this mantra probably because as our knowledge and experience increases, we think we know all there is to know. Asking questions is a sign of ignorance and most people don't like to embarrass themselves and appear vulnerable.
Yet in today's global environment where individuals are constantly asked to become more creative and innovative, the art of asking questions has become more valuable than ever. Opening a sentence with 'why' or 'how' is usually the first step towards acquiring new discoveries and coming up with new ideas. Rather than seeing questions as an admission of one's weaknesses, questions serve as the gateway for further exploration; it is liberating to be able to look for answers and inevitably expand the horizons of our own information cupboard.
Many ideas and inventions spring from questions people ask. Not surprisingly, inventors are often the ones who ask the most questions. Here are two interesting examples concerning Thomas Edison, the inventor of the light bulb, and the development of aeroplanes.
At the age of eight, Thomas Edison was bored with rote learning. This stemmed from his innate curiosity and he wanted to understand more about what he was learning. He tried to figure out how things worked and when he failed, he asked a lot of questions.
For example, Edison wanted to know where grain came from so he climbed to the top of a grain elevator. He fell into a pile of grain and started sinking. Fortunately, his father was around and pulled him out before he came to any harm. On another occasion, Edison wanted to find out how to make a human balloon. He made a boy swallow Siedlitz powders, which give of gas when they are mixed with water. He was hoping that the powder would mix with the boy's stomach to create a gas, and that gas would then cause the boy to float.
Obviously these incredulous experiments did not work. His teacher thought he asked too many questions and concluded that he was stupid. As everyone now knows, Edison's curiosity continued throughout his life and led to a lifetime of experimenting and inventing.
Everyone is well aware of the fact that the Wright Brothers were recognised as the inventors of the aeroplane but the genesis of such an idea came much earlier in history.
How can something so heavy seem so light?
If a bird's wings flap, why don't planes'?
These are questions a child might ask, but they are also the same questions inventors asked a hundred years ago. In most situations, the person asking questions is usually in an advantageous position because they can control the direction of an exchange. When someone is asked a question, they are somehow 'compelled' to take the opposite role and answer it.
- Excerpt from What A Stupid Question! by Sharmini Chellepandi
Remember, there are no stupid questions... Only stupid people! (Haha! Just kiddin'!)
So what are you waiting for? Start asking questions now!
- DarkAbyssXx
3:23 PM
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