The Question Is More Important Than The Answer
“The more we learn about the world, and the deeper our learning, the more conscious, specific, and articulate will be our knowledge of what we do not know; our knowledge of our ignorance. For this indeed, is the main source of our ignorance - the fact that our knowledge can be only finite, while our ignorance must necessarily be infinite.”
The question is more important than the answer. The idea is simple. If you spend more time focusing on the question the answer will become self-evident. Who is the audience, what type of analysis is most appropriate, how and in what format will the final analysis be shared?
Questions are the expression of curiosity, of wonder, of the desire to know more. Questions are the opening of possibilities, the exploration of alternatives, the challenge of assumptions. Questions are the invitation to dialogue, to exchange, to share. Questions are the catalyst for creativity, for discovery, for innovation. Questions are also the reflection of uncertainty, of doubt, of the awareness of the limits of our knowledge (Popper 1959). Questions are the recognition of complexity, ambiguity, and the multiplicity of reality. Questions are the admission of our ignorance, our fallibility, our humility.
The social sciences are a form of questioning, not just a form of answering.
How do we know? That’s the question our methods grapple with. What does the analysis mean? That question is as much about the analyst and art of interpretation as the audience making sense of the analysis. What are we missing? This question is about our ignorance of what we don’t know, the unknown unknowns. Bias, language, culture and imagination feature prominently. The point is that questions can seem boring but they are the meeting ground for possibility and inquiry - what is examined, where we decide to explore, who is overlooked and why. It all begins with where we begin.
I invite you to join me in this questioning, this dialogue, this problem. I invite you to ask your own questions, to find your own answers, to make your own meanings. I invite you to be curious, to be creative, to be critical. I invite you to question everything, especially the answers.
The question is more important than the answer.
