What the world needs now is more questions and fewer answers.
This idea is as old as the Greek philosopher Socrates, who asked persistent questions to help people discover the flaws in their arguments.
Questions are the currency of scientists, scholars, lawyers and journalists, like the ones I advise at NIU’s student newspaper, the Northern Star.
As I tell my students, an interview is only as good as the questions you ask. And so it goes with civil discourse.
Social media comment sections are filled with answers aimed at telling the other commenters why they’re wrong. The next time you are on social media, resist the urge to shoot down someone’s argument and ask a question instead.
Here are some questions you can try out:
Can you give me an example?
Can you say more about that?
How does this affect you?
Why is this important to you?
And my personal favorite: How do you know that? This question is especially good at exposing views not based on fact. Sometimes the most important person to pose that question to is yourself.
Good questions pave the way for careful listening, another skill important to journalists. Your job is to understand what’s being said. Thoughtful listening is a humbling experience. It’s remembering that your views aren’t important. This requires respect and kindness. It says “you matter.”
The fact that we’ve lost the ability to talk to one another has become a tired complaint. How many of us bother to engage those with whom we disagree? How would we even begin to do so? I hope you try asking questions and really listening as an important first step.
I’m Shelley Hendricks, and that’s my Perspective.