If there is one trait I love about kids, it is their ability
to ask questions even if they know the answer. Some of their questions are
frustrating and annoying but your refusal to answer them won’t stop them from
asking. Neither would your answers end their quizzing.
The continuous questioning not only help grow their
understanding of things (knowledge or insights), it does mean they respect your
opinions and hold it in high esteem. They also help you learn more as it would
seem embarrassing not to know a question to an answer.
Often times we see the kids in us-the constant badgering for
answers to ‘unserious’ questions. But as we grow and age, we stop questioning,
even when there is the need to and pretend we know it all. What accounts for
this lack of questioning and seeking answers and further clarifications?
Is it the society which as conservative as it is shut you up
from asking questions? Is the school systems which labels a child (teen) ‘too
known’ for probing and sometimes challenging teachers on certain grounds? Is it
the work environment which doesn’t tolerant the culture of asking and putting
in your one pesewa thoughts on the table?
Or the fear of the boss getting livid
and describing you in contemptuous manner as ‘not smart’? Or the friends who mock you and make you feel
intellectually inadequate or sarcastically tag you ‘too known’ when you try
seeking an explanation, asking (a) question(s) or challenging a position?
The ‘Whys’, ’What’s’, ‘How’s, ‘Is this ok? Did I do it right?
Do you like it? Can you explain further? These questions might seem annoying
and unnecessary but go a long way to enlighten the one asking the question as
well as building the confidence of the ‘asker’.
Questions, Questioning and Questioning. Answers, Assurance and Re-assurances. These
are the pot of growth water which one drinks from in other to grow and survive
and become a complete human being.
The educated mind is one that continues to ask and probe
further even when the answer is clear as daylight. A man who refuses or stops
asking questions is dead and a lost soul. And a society which does not
encourage the asking of questions is one at the throes of decaying for beneath
the strong foundations of all great
nations is the culture of asking, of probing, of challenging notions, dogmas
and norms.
To choose between a society where
citizens chose silence over questioning or one where asking questions is a past
time despite the consequences won’t be a difficult task. I know which one I’d
love to live in. So, let’s go back to the days when we were kids and ask
questions without any fear or reservations.
