How do you know so much about everything?

was asked of a very wise and intelligent man; and the answer was 'By never being afraid or ashamed to ask questions as to anything of which I was ignorant. John Abbott hat is the essence of science! ask an im"ertinent question# and you are on the way to the "ertinent answer. Jacob Bronowski he im"ortant thing is not to sto" questioning. $uriosity has its own reason for e%isting. &ne cannot hel" but be in awe when he contem"lates the mysteries of eternity# of life# of the marvellous structure of reality. Edmund Burke I dont "retend we have all the answers. But the questions are certainly worth thinking about. Arthur C. Clarke 'uestions focus our thinking. (sk em"owering questions like! )hat's good about this? )hat's not "erfect about it yet? )hat am I going to do ne%t time? How can I do this and have fund doing it? Charles Connolly he one real ob*ect of education is to have a man in the condition of continually asking questions. Mandell Creighton He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes; he who does not ask a question remains a fool forever Chinese Proverb )hats in a question# you ask? +verything. It is evoking stimulating res"onse or stultifying inquiry. It is# in essence# the very core of teaching. John Dewey (1933) The fool wonders the wise man asks. Ben!amin "israeli ,earn from yesterday# live for today# ho"e for tomorrow. he im"ortant thing is not to sto" questioning. Albert Einstein he im"ortant thing is not to sto" questioning. $uriosity has its own reason for e%isting. Albert Einstein o raise new questions# new "ossibilities# to regard old "roblems from a new angle# requires creative imagination and marks real advance in science. Albert Einstein ( wise man's question contains half the answer. #olomon $bn %abirol he "ower to question is the basis of all human "rogress. $ndira %andhi -eason can answer questions# but imagination has to ask them. &al'h %erard he most erroneous stories are those we think we know best.and therefore never scrutini/e or question. #te'hen Jay %ould &nly stu"id questions create wealth. %ary (amel )hat we observe is not nature itself# but nature e%"osed to our method of questioning. )erner (eisenberg he scientific mind does not so much "rovide the right answers as ask the right questions. Claude *evi+#trauss here is frequently more to be learned from the une%"ected questions of a child than the discourses of men John *ocke 0ou can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. 0ou can tell whether a man is wise by his questions. ,aguib Mahfouhe *ob is to ask questions1it always was1and to ask them as ine%orably as I can. (nd to face the absence of "recise answers with a certain humility. Arthur Miller &ne hears only those questions for which one is able to find answers. .riedrich ,iet-sche How do you get the right answers? By asking the right questions# of course. he questions you ask define the areas in which you will look# so taking time and even asking questions about the questions you are asking can be a useful strategy for getting creatively great solutions. Jamie Mc/en-ie Questioning is to thinking as yeast is to bread making. Questioning is what converts the stuff of thinking into something of value. Jamie McKenzie (2004). The Question Mark Vol 1, No 3, November 2004. http://questioning.org/nov04/whyquestion.htm He who has a why can endure any how .riedrich ,iet-sche 'uestioning is the door of knowledge. $rish saying he wise man doesn't give the right answers# he "oses the right questions. Claude *evi+#trauss he only questions that really matter are the ones you ask yourself. 0rsula *e %uin &ne's first ste" in wisdom is to question everything 2 and one's last is to come to terms with everything. %eorg Christo'h *ichtenberg $hildren enter school as question marks and leave as "eriods. ,eil Postman +verything we know has its origin in questions. 'uestions# we might say# are the "rinci"al intellectual instruments available to human beings. hen how is it "ossible that no more than one in one hundred students has ever been e%"osed to an e%tended and systematic study of the art and science of question2asking? How come (lan Bloom did not mention this# or +. 3. Hirsh# 4r.# or so many others who have written books on how to im"rove our schools? 3id they sim"ly fail to notice that the "rinci"al intellectual instrument available to human beings is not e%amined

in school? 1Postman 2334 '. 2567,ew 8ork9 Alfred A. /no'f. ,ook at all the sentences which seem true and question them. "avid &eisman Be "atient towards all that is unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves. &ainer Maria &ilke (n answer is an invitation to sto" wondering. &iemann :;;6 (rt is really "eo"le asking the eternal question# )hat is it all about? %ene &oddenberry he test of a good teacher is not how many questions he can ask his "u"ils that they will answer readilly# but how many questions he ins"ires them to ask him which he finds it hard to answer. Alice )ellington &ollins In all affairs it's a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted. Bertrand &ussell )hat "eo"le think of as the moment of discovery is really the discovery of the question. Jonas #alk he only interesting answers are those which destroy the questions. #usan #ontag here are no foolish questions# and no man has become a fool until he sto"s asking questions. Charles P. teinmetIt is not every question that deserves an answer. Publilius #yrus Id rather know some of the questions than all of the answers. James Thurber It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers. James Thurber he ability to ask the right question is more than half the battle of finding the answer. Thomas J. )atson he silly question is the first intimation of some totally new develo"ment. Alfred ,orth )hitehead 'uestions are the creative acts of intelligence 0nknown 4udge of a man by his questions rather than by his answers. <oltaire 5ometimes questions are more im"ortant than answers. ,ancy )illard 'uestions give you a lot of "ower in any conversation. Here's *ust some of the great benefits you can gain from using questions. Control 6irst of all questions give you "ower. hey "ut you in charge of the conversation. )hen you ask a question# there is a strong social "ressure for the other "erson to answer the question. (s long as you kee" asking questions# you are in charge of the conversation. 7oliticians know this and counter questions from interviewers by ignoring them and saying whatever they like 89 hat's a really interesting question and the real "oint is...9:. It is a "ower "lay to ignore the questions of others as you effectively say 9I do not have to follow social rules with you as I am so much more im"ortant.9 $nformation Information is "ower and what you get from questions is information. 7articularly if you are careful with your questions you can discover all kinds of useful information that can hel" you achieve your goals. ;athering information is much like doing a *igsaw "u//le. 0ou get bits of information and "ut them together to build the bigger "icture. 7robing questions are "articularly useful for digging out the information you need. #ocrates was one of the greatest educators who taught by asking questions and thus drawing out answers from his "u"ils 8'e% duco'# means to 'lead out'# which is the root of 'education':. 5adly# he martyred himself by drinking hemlock rather than com"romise his "rinci"les. Bold# but not a good survival strategy. But then he lived very frugally and was known for his eccentricity. &ne of his "u"ils was 7lato# who wrote u" much what we know of him. Here are the si% ty"es of questions that 5ocrates asked his "u"ils. 7robably often to their initial annoyance but more often to their ultimate delight. He was a man of remarkable integrity and his story makes for marvelous reading. he overall "ur"ose of 5ocratic questioning# is to challenge accuracy and com"leteness of thinking in a way that acts to move "eo"le towards their ultimate goal. Conce'tual clarification =uestions ;et them to think more about what e%actly they are asking or thinking about. 7rove the conce"ts behind their argument. <se basic 'tell me more' questions that get them to go dee"er. Why are you saying that? What exactly does this mean? How does this relate to what we have been talking about? What is the nature of ...? What do we already know about this? Can you give me an example? Are you saying ... or ... ? Can you rephrase that, please?

Probing assum'tions
7robing their assum"tions makes them think about the "resu""ositions and unquestioned beliefs on which they are founding their argument. his is shaking the bedrock and should get them really going=

What else could we assume? ou seem to be assuming ... ? How did you choose those assumptions? !lease explain why"how ... ? How can you verify or disprove that assumption? What would happen if ... ? #o you agree or disagree with ... ?

Probing rationale reasons and evidence

)hen they give a rationale for their arguments# dig into that reasoning rather than assuming it is a given. 7eo"le often use un2thought2through or weakly2understood su""orts for their arguments.

Why is that happening? How do you know this? $how me ... ? Can you give me an example of that? What do you think causes ... ? What is the nature of this? Are these reasons good enough? Would it stand up in court? How might it be refuted? How can % be sure of what you are saying? Why is ... happening? Why? &keep asking it '' you(ll never get past a few times) What evidence is there to support what you are saying? *n what authority are you basing your argument?

>uestioning view'oints and 'ers'ectives

>ost arguments are given from a "articular "osition. 5o attack the "osition. 5how that there are other# equally valid# view"oints.

Another way of looking at this is ..., does this seem reasonable? What alternative ways of looking at this are there? Why it is ... necessary? Who benefits from this? What is the difference between... and...? Why is it better than ...? What are the strengths and weaknesses of...? How are ... and ... similar? What would ... say about it? What if you compared ... and ... ? How could you look another way at this?

Probe im'lications and conse=uences

he argument that they give may have logical im"lications that can be forecast. 3o these make sense? (re they desirable?

+hen what would happen? What are the conse,uences of that assumption? How could ... be used to ... ? What are the implications of ... ? How does ... affect ... ? How does ... fit with what we learned before? Why is ... important? What is the best ... ? Why?

>uestions about the =uestion

(nd you can also get refle%ive about the whole thing# turning the question in on itself. <se their attack against themselves. Bounce the ball back into their court# etc.

What was the point of asking that ,uestion? Why do you think % asked this ,uestion? Am % making sense? Why not? What else might % ask? What does that mean?