It's the most annoying question when kids ask it, but it might also be the most useful ever. That is, if you want to understand. Sometimes it seems kids are just repeating WHY? over and over, but maybe they really are listening and wanting to learn from our answers.
Reading the news this morning, I felt like a kid. But I ended up understanding something.
You've maybe heard or noticed that bread and pasta and bagels and noodles are costing more.
Why?
Because wheat prices have doubled in the last few months.
Why?
Because farmers aren't planting as much wheat. Only 2/3 as much as 20 years ago.
Why?
They now make lots more money growing corn and soybeans.
Why?
Soybeans are used for animal feed and cooking oil in foreign countries. And corn is used for ethanol for our cars -- and obviously right now with high gas prices there's a big demand for alternatives to oil.
So by asking why, I was reminded that things are usually so connected that solving one problem can easily end up causing another. Things really are more complicated, or deeper, than we see at first.
Maybe grownups should ask why more often. And not settle for the first answer but keep asking why until you understand.
Seriously, how often are you satisfied with the first answer to a question you ask...but you never persist in pursuing why? and so you end up feeling the answer you got was surface and inadequate. You might even think there must not be a good answer. But the person answering your question doesn't know you feel that way because you never asked why?
- "Why do I need a warranty on this?"...(and why....and why...)
- "Why does it matter who's elected President?...(and why...and why...)
- "Why do we need new kitchen cabinets?"...
- "Why are you crying?"...
- "Why do I keep acting like this?"...
- "Why did Jesus have to die on the cross?"...
There may really be a fulfilling, deep, satisfying answer in there, but you have to chase it. Like a kid.
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