Mikey Needs Questions…
When I was younger I was always in search of answers, believing that I could one day get to the bottom of all of life’s troubles and angst. That’s probably how, or why, I became such a prolific verbal processor. I talked through my whole youth, well mostly asked questions. I wore my parents out I’m sure. But I wanted answers…
Sadly, Math and Science are presented as less about experimentation and more about memorization. That is, memorization of the already found answers. We present these two great fields of exploration as already resolved, already tied up, already asked and answered. Then we wonder why “we” are falling behind internationally in math and science…
The History Channel, Discovery Channel, and The Learning Channel (etc) focus most of their airtime giving us the answers to life’s mysteries. The church presents the Bible in similar fashion most of the time as well. The preacher stands up and presents all the rote answers to life’s nagging questions. We evaluate his effectiveness, in fact, by how well he can present the answers we already know – “I pray thee tell me thy doctrine”…
Life is not measured in answers, science and math remain mostly mysteries, and the Bible isn’t a big black book that is supposed to be memorized and spewed…
We should be at least partially defined by our questions, our explorations, and our inquisitiveness. Can we please stop handing out easier answers, can we stop putting all of the solutions at the end of the book, could we encourage little Mikey to think big, to ask big, and to be OK with unsolved problems?
“I spent the first half of my life looking for answers, I’m spending my remaining days in search of questions, and I have found that I’m much happier living in the mystery” author – me…
