School conditions us to look for and present the right answers. There are right and wrong answers to every kind of question: multiple choice, fill in the blank, short answer, even essays.
Without formal questioning (otherwise known as “exams”), there would be no way for teachers to grade students. And grades, or the quantification of our ability to produce the right answers, are one of the first status signals we learn on our way to adulthood.
Good questions—which don’t have clear and obvious answers—are rarely valued in school, and in fact, they may even bestow upon you the label of “troublemaker.”
But what we miss out on learning is that wisdom is a byproduct of investigating the questions we have. Investigations require an openness to all answers and take an enormous amount of time. They intimidate us because they are inherently uncertain.
They never go the way we anticipate, and they often elicit more questions.
But they are worth it. Good questions save you time in the long run by confirming you are working toward a fruitful solution. They save you time in the long run by shining light onto your blind spots. They save you time in the long run by defining clear parameters for your project.
Investing in good questions offers long-term gain, not short-term gain.
If you are optimizing for the present moment, good questions aren’t for you. If you need the “right” answer right now, good questions aren’t for you. If you can’t bear any uncertainty in life, good questions aren’t for you.
For everyone else, good questions are the path to wisdom.