The advantages of asking questions

He who asks questions remains a fool for five minutes. He who does not ask questions remains a fool forever~ Chinese proverb.

The above quote probably would be one of the very few that does not require an explanation. In simple words, it emphasizes on the quality of life that the habit of asking questions might lead to. By asking questions, we help ourselves decipher the meanings of the unknown and untold. No matter how silly, irrelevant or foolish a question might seem to us, it might be the one that opens doors of understanding to the thoughts unknown.

Every child begins life by asking questions, hundreds of them. But, not all of them continue doing so. At some point, we stop being curious, we stop asking questions, we stop exploring and learning and begin the journey of boring, never-ending monotony.

At every point, we get the chance to question and learn. However, if we let the chance go by, if we prohibit ourselves from asking if we let the question be in our heads only, we stop our mind from venturing into the world of knowledge, understanding, and learning, and all because we feared being laughed at or judged. Questioning is the art of learning and importantly so, we gain a lot, provided we ask the right questions.

Some benefits of asking questions are as follows:

1. Helps in resolving thoughts: Many times, a question that we asked not only helps in clarifying our thoughts but also the thoughts of others. We might never realize, but our question might be the helping hand someone desperately needed but was afraid to ask. Moreover, it is always better to clarify than to make unsafe assumptions.

2. Creates interest: A question will always reflect our interest and curiosity to learn more about a certain thing. A topic that is important to us will always motivate us to question and learn more about it.

3. Clears doubts or confusion: Asking the right questions and receiving proper answers will in most cases clear our confusion on any given aspect. It will even go ahead in strengthening our concepts and removing any doubts.

4. Improves our understanding: Whether it is inside a classroom or life in general, the more questions we ask, the better answers we seek and the clearer understanding we get.

5. Better communication skills: When we question and learn about things we get a better picture which in turn helps us get in-depth knowledge and encourages us to communicate about the subject matter at varying levels with others.

6. Importance of information: With the questions asked and the amount of information received, an individual will realize the importance of information and how capable it is of making or breaking our future.

7. Decision making: The answers we get for our questions, in turn, guide us to research and learn more and finally make informed decisions and choices about any aspect.

8. Promotes personal confidence: A lot of people always wait for that burst of confidence to come in their lives to start asking questions. Rarely, do they realize that it’s always the other way round. Only by asking the right questions will we get that self-confidence which ultimately becomes our guide to a lot of life-changing decisions that we make in our lives and the lives of others.

9. Augments personal effectiveness: He who is afraid of asking is ashamed of learning, says a Danish proverb. Rightfully so, only when a person is asking questions are they committed enough to bring about a change in themselves and all around them. Such people are never ashamed to learn, irrespective of their age and they work towards bringing out the best in them on all the levels of life.

We as individuals need to constantly read, question and empower our minds and spirits not only for ourselves but also for the future so that life is not held by shackles of ignorance. We need to stop living under the constant radar of unavoidable judgments and the fear of becoming a laughing stock.

We as teachers, parents, guides, mentors have an immense responsibility of not losing our curiosity caps and empowering the little minds by giving them the freedom to question and learn. The questions that they ask today will lead them towards lifelong research, hard work making way for some groundbreaking decisions that will shape our future.