Some writers have described the discovery of penicillin by sir Alexander Fleming to the power of observation and I agree too for if he had been carefree about the subtle nuance in his experimental plate, maybe until years later that another person would discover it and more lives would have been lost courtesy of bacteria.

However, 'observation' alone cannot outshine the 'power of question'. As started earlier that keen 'observation' was the starting point of sir Alexander's discovery; questions asked like 'how, what, why etc' amongst others provides answers to what had been observed and how he could have further replicated the procedure and have the same result(s).

Questions are therefore very important part of our lives. A lot of discoveries, like Newton wondering why an apple dropped downward and not up; Archimedes perplexed why water rose when he entered his bathtub amongst others were due to questions being asked and the quest to finding answers through our actions. It is therefore ideal to say that the process of getting answers to the questions equals Quest plus Action.

Apart from discoveries, questions are used to test our knowledge, skills in terms of exams, interviews, quiz to mention a few and these vary in method as regards the organisation, institutions etc.

Worthy to note is that reasons for questioning are much to contain within the scope of this write up but I'll be discussing just five of them. However, before briefly talking about them, it is pertinent to bring to our notice that according to Harvard researchers in a post on CNBC.com page by Gary Burninson, we've been made to understand that questions like 'how are you?' should be stopped indicating they are the three most used words in the world of communication. Further reading on why it is can be found in https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2019/03/07/stop-asking-how-are-you-harvard-researchers-say-this-is-how-successful-people-make-small-talk.html which discusses summarily about ways of communicating and initiating a discussion.

I hope to write write on that some times later and also, do kindly check my YouTube page for some of my videos https://www.youtube.com/user/baisid2010. Now we dive into the benefit of asking questions Do enjoy

UNDERSTAND: I may not always ask questions but I try to pay attention to those who do and importantly to the explanations or answers from the lectuerer, facilitator, guest etc. In most cases, asking questions helps to bring into light places areas that were either not discussed properly or not touched at all. The questions will bring answers or will generate several ideas for someone working on developing solutions, concepts and of course it adds more knowledge to the audience.

ATTITUDE OF CONCERN: Asking some questions can show that we have some quality of empathy or sympathy. Questions like 'you aren't looking excited as usual, what's up?', 'do you need someone to talk to? you look disturbed' and so on. This helps to develop good relationship and concern as we are drawn naturally to people who care about us. Don't forget the 'how are you?' syndrome and honestly some of us are used to it including myself.

CLARIFICATIONS/CORRECTIONS: I am always very crystal clear on not making assumptions about people's actions but rather asking questions to clarify. The concept 'assumption' can result into several collaterals damages. I also agree that good and evil actions are clear enough not to be misunderstood but it beholds us still to clarify. Although, this may not be very possible in all situations like emergencies, unsettled atmosphere, or when we do things without notification to the necessary quarters.

CLARIFICATIONS/CORRECTIONS: I am always very crystal clear on not making assumptions about people's actions but rather asking questions to clarify. The concept 'assumption' can result into several collaterals damages. I also agree that good and evil actions are clear enough not to be misunderstood but it beholds us still to clarify. Although, this may not be very possible in all situations like emergencies, unsettled atmosphere, or when we do things without notification to the necessary quarters.

Sometimes, we can ask questions about people's change in attitude, sudden unusual behaviour or why they did something which unknown to them had hurt us and the list is endless.

ENGAGING PEOPLE: At a party, in a bus, first time in a class, etc we can meet people with questions of different types however we should be red alert on sensitive issues. The link shared earlier can be surfed for insights on how to start discussion with people. One of the ways to do this is by relating with recent happenings, something said, things around etc. For instance, 'is that today's newspaper? The news on yesterday's accident was terrible! I had a similar experience, do you know I survived?'

INFORMATION: This could be in different formats for instance, someone can ask us questions to find out the truth of a matter; to find answers to identified problem or observation; it could also be to ascertain their belief in you for instance, 'can I trust you?', 'can I ask why you care about me so much?' etc. They do that to reaffirm their state of mind. This is employed in our day-to-day activities from investigation to relationships etc.

I hope this was quite insightful and changed some of our perspective to some things and importantly asking questions. Do stay around for the next post and kindly follow my YouTube page.

Stay safe!

IndigenousGenius