Day 17 of the A-Z Blogging Challenge and the letter Q.
Thanks for Questions.
My Mom came up with today’s topic. So Mom, why thanks for questions?
“We learn things when we look for the answers.”
Yes, that’s good. Anything else?
“Questions make us think. And the right kinds of questions make us think so much, we change.”
She asks a lot of questions of politicians and big business, and the answers she gets shape her vote and how she spends her money.
Always curious about what’s happening in the world, she follows the news – one could say she’s a bit of a news junkie.
Questions are good, and sometimes we have to ask questions very directly, and that can feel confrontational, and most people don’t like to be confronted. But questions wake us up, and like Mom says, the right kinds of questions make us think so much, we change.
Related articles
- Quora: During an interview what’s an appropriate answer when asked “where do you see yourself in 5 years?” (abaditya.com)
- Sound Off!! (constructstyle.com)
- Are You Happy? (thequilled.wordpress.com)
- Questions… and Ummm answers (justaparna.wordpress.com)
Alison Amazed 
Asking questions can educate us and help us keep informed. Some people have told me I’m nosy because I ask too many questions. Why do you think they would say such a thing?
Oh my – Some people get really annoyed because I ask questions, and not confrontational, rather just normal sort of introductory questions, like:
“Pleased to meet you. Where are you from?” or “Do you live her?” or “Where do you live?” and “What do you do?” and they’ve said and “…and who are you to ask all these questions?”
My oh my – and years ago I had a friend who got really upset because I was asking her about her life, in fact I think it cooled-off a growing friendship. Like you, Arlee, she accused me of being nosey. I thought we were friends, and that friends are interested in and curious about each other. She told me something different. Then there are questions that probe deep into a person’s psyche and these can feel very invasive. And questions that make people think. Like: “Did you know that eggs from caged hens are illegal in Europe, yet here in Canada where we have lots of wide open space for chickens to run about, it’s still legal to lock them in cages so small they peck at one another, and live lives of utter misery and degradation, so we can buy thin-shelled, rather tasteless eggs, for less than half of what an egg costs when the hen lives a good life and produces beautiful, rich, thick-shelled, eggs?”
Interesting. Usually it’s other people (like my wife for example) who will think I’m being nosy. I’ve found that the people I’m directing my questions to are usually more than willing and enjoy answering questions about themselves. I think most people like to talk about themselves.
Also I can gain useful information and tap into possible networking opportunities. Like the typical where do you work? or what do you do? type questions. I’m also always interested in the “where are you from?” question in case I’ve been there or know something about the place. Asking people about there lives leads to some great conversational opportunities.
Lee
An A to Z Co-Host
Tossing It Out
Yes – I’m always especially interested in people’s accents and use of language in relation to where they’re from. Regional accents are really distinctive in England AND Spain – with regional dialects and languages, Catalan being perhaps the most distinctive and certainly politically loudest! In Canada, we have regional French, each with its distinctive nuances; and regional English – someone from southern Ontario speaks differently from someone from the Maritimes, Prairies or West Coast; and we also have First Nations who speak English with a very distinctive sound. So it’s always interesting to know where people learned English.