What is a worthy question?

In the world, especially today’s, we want things fast. We’ve all heard this; we all know this. We’re told with technology and the internet connecting us to others and information with such ease and speed, our lives are speeding up irrevocably. There are the types who hate it all and want to get back to the good ol’ days, then there are the types who are hooked into the ‘matrix’ and onboard for the ride, wherever form it may take. The most coveted type in this rapid world, are the people that consistently delay gratification, this one ability gives them a mythical status among the rest, they’re the special people with their sh*t together, who have somehow risen above the clutches of corporate predation. We’re told, and we believe, they’re the people that are destined for success.

Well what about the process of posing questions?

A strange comparison without a doubt, but if I said there are equally as many people confused about how fast we should receive things, as those who are misguided as to the reason for asking questions, would you believe me? Would you then question the reason for asking questions?

Why do we ask questions? To receive answers.

Was that too fast a response?

Always the beautiful answer who asks a more beautiful question.

E. E. Cummings

What about this, what is our education system for? Raising children to be esteemed adults? to beat the creativity and enjoyment of life out of them? so parents can carry on with their life for small portions of the day in order to support them? Who’s to say? the answer is undoubtably sketchier. One thing I’m certain of is that it isn’t for teaching students the beauty or purpose of asking questions. In this regard, most people are woefully misguided in their relationship with and expectations of questions. Much to the first point of wanting things fast, the relation between questions and answers is given far too much emphasis.

We attend school, which prescribes a curriculum for us to complete to a minimum degree. Ask yourself how the majority of this curriculum is conveyed. Generally – with the exception of great teachers, or those either bored or in the mood for some fun – we are plainly given the information, to be committed to memory for later use in a test, served up on a silver platter, it’s really no wonder kids are bored out of their minds! We are taught to ask questions, but largely to receive answers to aspects of the curriculum we don’t yet understand, grey areas don’t exist, or are squashed by teachers who don’t want to look dumb in front of their students, but this is exactly the beauty of asking questions.

So with a prescribed curriculum, there are conducive questions that elucidate parts yet unknown, questions that aren’t worth asking because they lead nowhere, and questions that are brilliant and fall beyond the curriculum that the teacher has little hope of providing an answer to. Is this a bad thing? this failure to provide an answer? If we presume the purpose of question asking is to receive answers then yes. But as I’ve said this path is misguided – we are so thoroughly confused by what questions are for that it is shameful, the expectation put upon them squashes any wonder and mystique they inherently contain. What has been so bashfully skewed in the common understanding of questions is that they’re not for receiving answers, they’re for focussing our attention on certain topics or aspects of experience. This is their beauty.

Thus, the aim of this project is to ask interesting questions I feel are vital for developing a healthy experience and deeper appreciation and wonder for the world around us. Through it, I will examine topics I find interesting, probing them with questions for the pure enjoyment in the hopes of enriching my understanding of life. Threading the needle through this endeavour, is the question I pose to you: what is a worthy question?