Once upon a time, we were all question-asking experts. We started asking our parents numerous questions as kids. By preschool, our inquiries even reached the depths of science, philosophy, and the social order. Where does the sun go at night? Why doesn't that man have a home like we do? Why do rocks sink but ice floats?
Why does the child's urge to ask questions grow inactive in so many adults? An important factor is how the social environments surrounding us change as we age. Schools transform from a place for asking questions to one funded by our ability to answer them. And we recognize that society rewards the people who propose to have the answers.
We can be braver about asking questions in public and encouraging others to pursue their curiosity, too. In that encouragement, we help create an environment where those around us feel safe to ask questions.
When it comes to how we phrase questions, we are advised to open with less sensitive questions, favor follow-up questions, and keep questions open-ended. We can also practice asking questions of and for ourselves by keeping a running list of questions in a journal.
Finally, we could set aside time to ask absurd questions like "How would you accomplish a week's work in two hours?" This type of questions forces us to break the boundaries of our comfort zone.
In the world that does not look much as it did years ago, we must ask questions.
Great questions can open up our capacity to change because they allow us to draw people in, opening them up to sharing knowledge, ideas, and opinions. And they are also our primary means of learning about the world. In short, asking questions is the best way to deepen our understanding of the things that matter to our life.
A.Then, at some point, our inquiring desires disappear.
B.It is a high-payoff behavior especially in times of change.
C.The questions we ask depend on our attitudes as well as the situations. D.But as we grow up, asking questions fills us with worry and self-doubt. E.As such, one way to renew our inquiring spirit is to change the atmosphere.
F.We learn to sell ourselves on the job market by what we know, not what we don't.
G.It not only removes the publicity from question asking, but offers us a place to experiment.