Why A Good Question Is Worth More Than A Great Answer

In today’s session we contemplate the quote, ‘Sometimes questions are more important than answers.’ From Nancy Willard, an American writer, novelist, and poet. This track is taken from my course, ‘Daily Contemplations For Living An Examined Life’, available now via my profile.

Transcript

Hello,

And welcome to the session.

I invite you to take a seat,

Or lay down and get yourself comfortable.

You can close down the eyes if you wish,

And take a deep,

Slow breath in through the nose and out through the mouth.

And just gently begin to open your mind up to today's quote,

To contemplate the words with a free and open and supple mind,

To welcome impossibility and expansion and growth,

And to allow yourself,

For the next few minutes,

To just sit and be with whatever arises.

In a moment,

I'm going to share with you a quote to contemplate,

And then we'll just let it percolate,

Then we'll talk about the quote to see where the discussion leads us.

Today's quote comes from Nancy Willard,

An American writer,

Novelist and poet,

And it goes,

Sometimes questions are more important than answers.

Sometimes questions are more important than answers.

So I've seen this sort of quote,

Or this idea,

Be replicated everywhere,

Particularly in the entrepreneurial and innovative and writing spaces,

Creativity spaces.

The idea that questions are more important than answers,

Meaning that the act of asking a question can lead to more answers,

And more beneficial answers,

And more sort of openness and expansion towards possibility than the answers to questions themselves.

I know that sounds like a little bit paradoxical,

But if we dive into this concept,

We start to see the truth in the matter.

Let's say you have a problem and you want a solution.

You're looking for an answer,

And you get it.

That's a very linear sort of approach to life.

Problem arises,

You get a solution,

You fix the problem,

The status quo sort of maintains.

Now yes,

That answer,

That solution may be innovative,

But what if you asked a new question?

Rather than,

Can I fix this problem,

A better question,

Or a question to ask might be,

Is this really a problem?

You know,

Just asking that,

Is this thing really truly a problem?

Something arises in our mind,

In our lives,

And we push back against it instantly because it's change.

But is the change really a problem?

Maybe it is,

Maybe it isn't,

But just asking that question reframes the whole issue entirely.

In a different session in this course,

One of the quotes references identity,

And the fact that we hold onto our identities with such vigor and strength that it causes a lot of duress.

So what if the thing that is bothering us questions our identity?

Okay,

Well maybe our identity,

Who and what we are,

Might need to change,

That might actually be a good thing.

Is this really a problem?

Maybe.

Can I look at this problem another way?

Is this problem something that I can address differently?

Rather than just looking for a solution to the problem,

Can I tweak something so that the problem and the potential answer to the problem are no longer relevant?

Look at any of the great advances in technology,

And you'll see that to get to those great advances,

You have to ask the right questions,

You have to think outside the box.

Do you know what's better than the most efficient oil lamp?

Light,

Light bulbs,

Electricity.

But what a massive jump from the traditional,

Eons old approach to looking at lighting up one's house,

To this fundamental twist and change of reality.

The light bulb,

As an example,

Is a completely new and novel way to experience the world.

And the question wouldn't have been,

Can I make a lamp better,

But rather,

What can this new technology actually do for us?

What are different applications of this new thing known as electricity?

Great works of art,

Literature,

Poetry,

A lot of these things have come out of questioning.

Questioning the form.

Things are always done this way,

But what if?

What if we made a change?

What if we did something differently?

What if we approached it from a new light?

Sometimes when something goes wrong,

Or goes odd,

Or goes differently to be expected,

We ask another question,

We ask a third question,

And the act of asking the question themselves reveals the answer.

And we can take it a little bit more internal,

Sometimes questions are more important than the answers.

If you find yourself after facing duress,

For example,

Losing a job,

Or someone passing,

Or something bad happening to you,

And you find yourself internally asking the question,

Why me?

Why does this happen to me?

Why am I so cursed,

Et cetera,

Et cetera?

Perhaps those questions are telling you something more than what you're initially even asking.

Those questions and the way you phrase them to yourself are indicative of an internal victim mentality,

One that is taking randomness,

Or external causation,

And applying it to you as a person,

As an identity,

As a consequence karma,

That maybe isn't even warranted.

The observation of the questions you ask yourself itself can lead to wisdom.

Now I understand here that I'm just reframing this question,

This quote,

And it is a small quote,

But it is quite important.

What questions can you ask yourself?

What questions can you ask the world?

What questions can you ask your art that can lead you down new,

Exciting,

Lucrative,

Expressive paths?

If we pause on the spiritual aspect of asking a question,

There is a practice that literally just repeatedly asks the question to the self,

Who am I?

Who am I?

Who am I?

And when the answers arise,

You just ask again,

Who am I?

I like to reframe that question when I'm working with coaching clients in the shadow work space,

In the inner child work space.

One of the practices that I may offer is to get the person to ask themselves,

What lies underneath?

You have a bad memory,

Something arises,

You're triggered,

There is something going on,

And you ask yourself,

What lies underneath?

And then something arises,

And then you ask that space,

What lies underneath that?

And then something else arises,

And you ask that,

What lies underneath?

And you keep asking this question,

And what lies underneath that,

And what lies underneath that?

And you ask,

And ask,

And ask,

And eventually you come to the root cause,

The core memory,

The initial place,

Or at least the initial place that your consciousness can comprehend at this stage,

That you can hold,

And then you start to address it,

Because usually the initial feelings are surface based.

Usually it takes a few iterations,

It takes a while to dig down,

To get underneath,

To start to see the reality of your own inner space.

You ask yourself,

What lies underneath?

Jealousy arises,

What lies underneath that?

Maybe it's fear of loss,

Okay,

What lies underneath that?

Oh,

It was this thing that happened when I was a child,

Where,

You know,

Insert memory.

And by the looking at,

And addressing of,

And contemplation of that memory,

And the implications of that memory,

Perhaps that will backwards heal into the future,

The things that you're actually worried about right now.

Your jealousy may be getting hypercharged by the things that you've held onto from the past,

But the only way to get to that past memory is by asking,

What lies underneath?

Twisting this quote,

Sometimes questions are more important than answers,

Is just an observation of,

Well,

Young children,

They find a topic,

And they ask you,

Well,

Why?

Why mummy?

Why daddy?

And you answer them,

And they're like,

Okay,

But why?

And they're asking,

And they get deeper,

And deeper,

And deeper,

And deeper,

And deeper,

Until they very quickly reach the end of your knowledge.

Their questions are a manifestation of curiosity.

The questions they're asking for,

Or the act of asking,

Is an exploration of curiosity about the world,

And that is almost more important than the answers you give them,

Because that curiosity isn't just for this one random topic that they're talking about right now,

But that curiosity is for life,

For the world,

For existence,

For everything,

For themselves.

So fostering that curiosity,

Why this,

Why this,

Why this,

Is more important than the answers you're giving them,

Because you want to endure,

And encourage,

And make sure that they maintain that sense of curiosity,

Because that curiosity will allow them to go far in whatever career they end up choosing to partake in.

Another approach to questioning that I've found valuable is to ask the question,

If I was to begin again,

If I was to start now,

What would I do?

What would I do now,

Were it to be the first time?

This is really great with any sort of personal projects,

Work projects,

Creativity,

Entrepreneurial spaces,

All of these things.

If I was to start now,

What would I do?

Because that gets you out of the rut that you might find yourself in,

Because it's very easy to get stuck in your own lane,

And sort of wonder why you're not getting where you want to go,

It's like maybe you're in the wrong lane,

Maybe the road you're on is not going down the right path,

But if you ask yourself,

If I was to start now,

With all of my knowledge,

Skills,

Expertise,

Equipment,

All of these things,

What would I do?

That question allows you to step back,

Stand up,

And see the possible roads that lie before you.

There is a tremendous amount of wisdom there.

Sometimes questions are more important than answers.

Soon we're going to pause for a minute,

But I just want you to allow questions to arise.

And if the questions don't arise,

Consider the following,

What question should I be asking right now?

So I'm asking you a question,

That answer will be itself a question,

So we can get a little bit twisted and meta with this one,

But what question do you need to be asking yourself?

Sometimes questions are more important than answers,

And what question do you need to be asking yourself right now?

So well done,

This brings us to the end of the session,

At the bottom of your screen you'll see the option to view the classroom,

Or to ask a question,

And before moving on,

I invite you to take a moment to click through and share your insights,

To read answers from other students,

And to hear my replies.

Remember to start your responses with Nancy Willard,

Or to restate the quote,

Questions,

So that we all know which one you're referring to.

This is an opportunity for deep learning,

Further introspection and insight,

So please don't miss out.

I look forward to seeing you in the next session.

Thank you.

This track was taken from my course,

Daily Contemplations for Living an Examined Life.

It's out now on Insight Timer,

And available via my profile.

I invite you to join in.