“Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers”, Voltaire
A waiter approached a man sitting at the breakfast table in a restaurant. The man asked the waiter, why is there no bacon and eggs in the menu? The man was sitting in a restaurant in Cairo, Egypt. This demonstrated shows that he didn’t know much about Middle East.
The questions we ask reflect our mental abilities and our way of thinking. The questions a ten year old asks are different from the questions a three year old asks. Questions also reflect the person’s interests and believes. A tornado destroyed houses of two neighbors. One person asks, “why is God punishing us”. The neighbor asks, “why didn’t the government warn us about an incoming tornado”. In the first man’s mind, God sent the natural disaster as punishment. The second person accepts the that natural disasters occur naturally but he also believes that the government has a responsibility to warn them of incoming danger.
A homeless man is begging for change. Two friends walk past him and a third stop to give him money. He catches up with the other two and ask them, “why didn’t you help him”? The first person remarks, “why doesn’t he just get job”? The second asks why doesn’t the government help this man off the street? Why did you help him. How is this man going to survive in his situation? I had to help him.
Same situation. Three people. Three different questions. The questions reflect how they interpret the situation. The first person thinks that everyone needs to take care of himself and if you fall of difficult times, you have only yourself to blame. The second person believes that it is the government’s responsibility to help those who have fallen on difficult times. The third person believes that the community, including himself, has the responsibility of helping those in need.
Questions tell more about people than answers.