A Stupid Question

The word “Question” has been derived from “Quarrier” meaning “to seek”, having its origin in the Latin language. “Quarrier” is also rooted to the word “quest”. We human beings are born curious. As children, it is our instinct to ask question about everything we see. But as we grow up, we stop asking questions. Maybe because we are forced to believe that a question, because of its preposterous nature, can make us look like a fool. Whereas in reality, as said by +Oscar Wilde “Questions are never indiscreet, answers sometimes are.”

We need to ensure ourselves that a question cannot be short sighted and the only concrete way towards foolishness is to stop asking questions. A creative and sagacious person is always learning, his life is an endless quest and questions can prove to be a very dependable guide on this path, particularly for students.

I still remember every word of my lecturer Bob Thornhill, who spent whole of his first lecture on importance of questions. He drew a life cycle of a plant on the white board and explained to us if “understanding” is the “plant” you want to grow, you must keep on putting the “seeds” of “questions” and ultimately you will be able to enjoy the “fruit” of that plant, which will be “success”.

Whiz kids in the world are always those who ask more questions, but more elegantly than anyone else. A Journalist asked Isidore Rabi, winner of a Nobel Prize for physics, how he became a scientist. He quickly replied; “My mother made me a scientist without ever knowing it. Every other child would come back from school and be asked, ‘What did you learn today?’ But my mother used to say, ‘Izzy, did you ask a good question today?’ That made the difference. Asking good questions made me into a scientist.”

+Warren Berger, who is a lecturer and an author, concludes in his book “Glimmer, How Design Can Change Your Life and Maybe Even the World”, distinguishes the world’s leading designers and innovators from the rest of the world, by their skill of asking questions. He suggests in another of his work piece “A More Beautiful Question” that we all should be in the habit of questioning everything. He furthermore adds on to it by saying “Questioning is good for us. It can help to open up new possibilities in our lives. It’s a first step in solving problems. It makes us more successful as leaders.”

What makes me ponder is connection between brilliance, learnedness and questions. We must realise how far-reaching is questioning for us and especially for students. Being inquisitive is often earnest than the answer. However we tend to shy away or be uncertain about the questions we ask. I believe Rabbi is implying that the education system must encourage students to ask question. Our educators must realise that thinking is not steered by answers but by questions. If Einstein did not question physics, then we would never have had theory of relativity. If Newton did not question fall of the apple, then we would never have had the theory of gravity. What’s more is that a field can only flourish if it is continuously exposed to new and fresh question, that are food for thought.

Students learn the art of questioning, only by practicing this art more often. They will learn to ask intelligent questions by having an atmosphere that encourages them to do so, and on receiving feed back on them. And eventually the habit of asking intelligent question can help them become a scholar. At start, students might ask vague and absurd question, but this is where the role of a good teacher starts. A good teacher is not the one who only answers those questions but also gives his students feedback on those questions and shows them the better way of asking the same question. A good teacher never forgets the fact that a student asking questions is showing his interest and motivation in the subject, a behaviour that must be nurtured. Teachers must appreciate that it is up to snuff to know some of the questions then to know all the answers.

Education should be a dialogue between the teacher and a student. As soon as it becomes a monologue, it would be better for students just to buy a book and read it themselves. Learning has always been a 2-way communication. According to +Javed Ahmed Ghamidi “We must put our arguments, all with utmost respect. Both sides have opportunities to learn in such debates”. After all it is all about the learning, evolving towards a better future and learning does not only have to be from teacher to student. It certainly can also be the other way round.

            The mammoth pressure students are facing is “stupid” pressure. Some of the teachers try their best to make their student look like a fool in front of their peers. Teachers must understand that only because they have a better grip on a subject, does not render the students “stupid”. Let’s not be fooled and assume that pressure can be overcome only by standing in front of the class and asking, “Are there any questions?” A good teacher will go the extra mile and create a question asking environment. A teacher must always encourage and motivate the students to investigate the answers.

            It is high time we must understand that every bit of knowledge has been achieved in consequent of a question. It is evident that questions are the most necessary intellectual tool not only for a student, but for our society at large. We all should work together to create a culture of questioning and tolerance, so that our coming generations can achieve what we are afraid to even dream of. We should not only teach our coming generations to read, write and learn, we must teach them to question what they read, write and learn.

Wise Men Of Gotham

Pakistanis, being a nation, can clearly be declared as one of the most befuddled nations. What are the factors that make me give such a big statement? What are the reasons that make this nation stand among such bewildered nations? Unfortunately, there is a big majority of our population, which does not really know as to whether it makes up a nation or it is just a confused crowd? Maybe because even after the independence of over six decades, we are still trying to figure out who is our real enemy i.e. Indians, Afghanis, Americans or Taliban? Maybe because we have raised a generation who considers it disrespectful, or shall I say “uncool”, to be well –versed with its country’s history, as if there is anything dark and sinister about it. Maybe because even after having enjoyed independence for over 6 long decades, we are still not sure what form of political system is perfect for us i.e. democratic, dictatorship or Islamic way of caliphs?

I cannot help to notice the irony of the situation that while being so unsure about our present, past and future, we are busy in pointing fingers at the world at large and distinguishing who is the culprit and who is not. From the oil reserves of Saudi Arabia to World Trade Centre New York, Pakistanis are busy disclosing all the related conspiracy theories. We are a nation that is all the time pinned on among numerous conspiracy theories. It is like a lady, who has been divorced four times, is advising her friend about the matrimonial issues. We are basically our own enemies who chose to suffer.

Some of our blue-blooded country fellows do agree to disagree with these points and argue that Europe has achieved their democracy after an evolution of hundreds of years and it is but natural for a nation’s life cycle to go through these hardships in order to achieve the easy street and do well. I will only respond to them by saying, that neither two wrongs make one right nor denying our problems will prevent us from damage, just as a lack of belief in gravity will not prevent us from tripping. The only effect these denials have, are that we will be stumbling in the dark for a longer period of time if we do not mend our ways.

The first step towards solving a problem is, accepting that there is a problem. Only then we would be able to plan and strive to achieve big hit. Even with a bird’s eye view, we can find out that discipline is the most basic ingredient to convert a mob into a nation. For many years, Pakistan has been a helpless victim of growing indiscipline in all walks of life. From certain political parties and selfish political leaders to government servants or shopkeepers, everyone has played its part in shaking up the state. There has been indiscipline among the masses, resulting personal gains of ulterior motives. We have been noticing a very ruthless phenomenon of strikes, demonstrations, public violence and uproarious proces­sions and aggravating rampages. Unemployment, economic depressions, cultural erosion, intellectual lethargy, crisis of character, all wet concept of liberty and way off understanding the purpose of education are among the chief contributing factors of our present undisciplined crowd.

We Pakistanis are perfect example of creating chaos in public places by our undisciplined behaviour. We show lack of adequate and manners in everything we do. It does not matter how trivial or consequential it is.  Be it from boarding buses and trains, driving on the roads, standing in a queue to choosing our leaders or running a million dollar organisation. There is an alarming rise in the crime graph of country, due to the lack of discipline.

A little wiser approach will be to start on individual level. We should start criticising ourselves first then to blame the world and the government for the injustices they have done. We should have an everlasting criticism of where we are at present and where probably will we end, if we keep on following the same road. We must start looking beyond our own personal lives and our own personal interests. We should start looking at the bigger picture. We must always be very critical of how we use our authorities, which way our society is heading and how we can imagine of a world where abuse of power is no longer, where want and violence is no longer and where society is the epitome of philanthropic behaviour.

 Above all, we should recognise that the promotion of courtesy, benevolence, culture of decency, responsibility, et cetera, is only a matter for individuals, not governments; that on a societal level, it is a matter of culture and custom, and is not a matter of law. In a nutshell, if we do get the picture of the problems we are exposed to, we must act prudently to take ownership of it, and try to solve them without recourse to coercion.

Since at the moment, we are under an impression that democracy is the only way out, therefore we must understand the importance of self-discipline. We are a nation, unlike some nations, where democracy was never a child of masses, but actually was a gift of some enlightened leaders which fortunately were present at the time of partition, it followed that our ideology has never been democratic and indicating contrast, the laws have always been. So the contrast between social ideology and legal ideology is blatant in many aspects and is also sowing the seeds of these issues.

If a nation dreams of achieving power and success then it must have leaders, those who dare to see a little farther, to believe that they can lead a better life than present. And if the nation wants this perception to be an inevitable result, it must not forget that having a vast army of citizens capable of understanding and following these leaders intelligently is also paramount. These citizens must have an understanding of the government’s actions and policies, from the smallest town election to the highest assembly of the country. It must be no closed book to them, and each one of them should be willing to carry his own particular responsibility to the best of his abilities or else, the whole army will lag.

The biggest responsibilities lie on our educators and our parents, who have the power to change the criteria, definitions and value systems used by us. Those systems do not need to be reformed, they need to be replaced. We need values that demand the practice of peace, love, patriotism and understanding the same way we now practise war, terrorism, violence, aggression and intolerance. Our nation is capable of achieving absolutely everything. We only need to take the right road. It all comes to the choices we make. Either we want to live together as brothers or die together as fools.

``You can build a wall, or you can build a bridge. It all depends on the love you give. If you build a wall, your world is very small, but if you build a bridge, you can conquer all.''