With any question, why is it always so helpful to know why the answer is the one that is? In another words, which principle of thinking and learning is most closely tied to question “why”? Or is it purely social act of expressing deeper interest? Is questioning for reasons mandatory?
I feel I know the answer to this question intuitively, but find it hard to express it into words without it sounding stereotypical and lazy.
This seems bizarre, because it’s children who are most “famous” for asking “why” all the time, but: How would you, say explain to a child, why do we need to know reasons behind things?
It’s kind of important. Boss says “every 10 minutes you need to flip this switch the opposite direction”. It’s just a switch on a wall. Sure you can just do it blindly and never know why, you’re still getting paid after all. Or you can ask. Maybe it changes a signal to prevent collisions between trains. Maybe it tells all the sliding doors to open at a shopping mall in New Jersey. Maybe it drops treats into a pet enclosure. Or maybe it is really truly wasting your time.
If you can’t directly see the results from doing/avoiding a thing, having the purpose explained helps.