Thursday; March 1

I have a question for you ... why do we ask questions? 
Now, in the interest of full-disclosure, I am setting you up!  The superficial answer to “why do we ask questions” is to gain information from another person, but is that really why we ask questions?  There are several reasons to ask questions:  Some people use questions to bait someone into a debate.  Others ask questions to make another person appear foolish (because they know they can’t answer the question).  Some ask questions as a way to begin to teach a lesson by helping put people in a contemplative frame of mind.  And, yes, sometimes we ask questions because we want to gather information.
I began thinking about this question question while watching the coverage of the Florida school shooting.  I noticed that a lot of questions were being asked – not to gather information – but, to promote an agenda.  The questioner knew exactly how the other person was going to respond before they asked the question so they were able to manipulate them and achieve their goal.
I am not completely dismissing the use of questions, but I believe that we must be cautious.  When someone approaches us with a question, it should prompt us to ask, “why is this question being asked”.  If we get the feeling that we are being set up for something, we should be judicial in our answer – or maybe exercise an effective tool of wisdom and refuse to answer.  When we begin to use a question for anything other than information-gathering, let’s make sure that we do not turn it into a “gotcha moment”.  Let’s be transparent in our intent.
Now, what was it you wanted to ask? 
Think About It!

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