Since time immemorial, society has had problems with those who asked questions that were dangerous to our precariously balanced ideas. From the Inquisitions of France, Spain and many other kingdoms during the Middle Ages to the Mihna of the 9th century in the Middle East. Even today, in our presumably more free society, asking questions about many matters is looked down upon. Whether asking about someone’s change in gender to the most trivial reason - why they eat so much cheese, for instance - is seen on a scale of socially unacceptable.
In the beginning, there was one answer to every question. ‘God’. Soon, however, that began to fall apart. You couldn’t blame God for the lack of corn which you didn’t sow, or tell yourself God made the stone tool which you just finished carving. As humanity began to properly come to terms with philosophy and causal manipulation, we came to understand that God was not the answer to every question. Thus, we began asking and trying to answer questions. However, the more we found out, the more we realised our ignorance (the Dunning-Kruger effect).
But, just as much as we knew we were ignorant, the less we wanted to acknowledge it. Why? The usual reasons people don’t answer are:
They don’t know the answer
They can’t tell the answer
They don’t want to know the answer
They can’t doubt the answer, which questions will do
If a person does not know the answer, many times they digress and dodge the questions instead of admitting their ignorance. Questions are like drills, digging deeper into the mind of the questioned until they reach the human ego. Nobody likes a shot at their pride. However, just like we should be fine asking incessant questions, we should be fine not knowing the answer to them. Without accepting ignorance, we cannot have the bliss of learning together (for knowledge is always revelationary in some way).
If a person cannot tell the answer, they would greatly dislike someone asking too many questions. Just as today we would not push a person to answer a question, we would push them to answer the question if they say they cannot.
Quite often people demand the right to ignorance - the right to not be made aware of the truth. Asking the right questions, as Socrates noted, had the effect of making people doubt their own notions of the matter. Knowing this power, just like theistic philosophers avoid science, common people avoid such questions which may make them question their beliefs.
Otherwise, in some cases, people think they cannot afford to doubt their notions. They feel like questions will make them accept the facts, thus forcing them into cognitive dissonance. For example, a person who has devoted his entire life to praying to God cannot afford to know that his lord does not exist, thus refuting any opportunity to ask incessant questions.
The power of ‘why’ is so great, it has the ability to make people introspect without argument. A simple ‘why’ brings to fore previously unorganised thoughts. Further questions only lead to cognitive premonition of hypocrisy. By creating dissonance in a person’s mind, the right questions can win an argument on their own. Thus, the society of tomorrow is built on harnessing the power of the question. However, just as you must be ready to ask a question, you must be ready to answer one. Indeed, at all points of time, conveying the clarity of thought is paramount. It is alright to be unaware of an answer or unable to answer a question so long as you don’t hem and haw your way out of it.
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