Ask "Why?"

Three-year-olds are are wired to wonder. This hard-wiring makes them inherently curious. Their inquisitiveness is a necessary component of needing to orient themselves to a new and different place. Children instinctively know they have to keep learning in order to grow and thrive.

So instead of appreciating the beauty and elegance of such a plan, most adults get frustrated with the constant asking of "why?". Naturally, it can be difficult to live with a little person who is trying both to assert their independence and learn about everything they encounter. The constant need to know more can leave even the most patient parents and caregivers feeling stressed. Unfortunately, this frustration can—and often does—lead to the child learning to shut down his inherent curiosity. Comments like, "Because I told you so" and "that's just the way it is" make the child begin to feel as if it's not safe to ask questions, especially if these responses are offered with emotional intensity. If a child experiences this enough, he'll stop asking questions and, further, carry that fearful habit into adulthood.

The problem with this is that we're living in a time when the very thing we need to do is ask questions, especially the question "why?". Young ones understand how to probe, to dig deeper and deeper until a sense of satisfaction with an appropriate answer is achieved. But, we tend to drum this out of them, so we now live in a society that rarely remembers that there are reasons why things are the way they are—and, that the standard answers often don't add up to anything that begins to resemble the truth. We just accept what we're told without doubt.

We must begin to make peace with "why?". We have to reclaim that innocent, inquisitive nature that is ours, no matter our age. It's time, once again, to relentlessly ask "why?". Let's not continue acting out of old programming that says it's not safe or productive to want more information. Let's rebel against becoming more robotic and regain our ability to ask questions.

When asking "why?", become the insistent three-year-old and don't settle for simple, pat answers that don't feel right. Keep digging. Pursuing a consistent thread of questions begins to wake us up. Why are things the way they are? Why doesn't it feel safe to ask "why"? Layer after layer, don't stop asking "why?" until you're finally and completely satisfied with either what you think and feel is the answer or you're at a place where you think there may not be an understandable conclusion. (Some of the deeper, more meaningful questions are probably not going to lead to concrete answers.)

Why is the world the way it is? Hint—It's not an accident or a coincidence. Ask. Keep asking and don't ever stop.