Ask
Questions
“It
is easier to judge the mind of a [person] by [their] questions rather than [their]
answers.”
Pierre
Marc Gaston de Levis
I
attended a Jung After Work zoom meeting last night in which Bert Young spoke
about Questions: Big and Small. It got me thinking about human curiosity. Humans
are certainly not the only lifeforms with curious minds—my dog Liza sticks her
nose into everything on earth. Last week, I grabbed her just in time stop her
from ingesting a still-wiggling lizard tail. Thankfully, the rest of the lizard
escaped.
One of
the things I’ve noticed, and certainly others have as well, is that curiosity
drives some of us—especially creative types and scientists. But all professions
require curiosity. Bert has been both a lawyer and a journalist, and he spoke
about the differences in the kinds of questions asked by each field. All research
begins with those open-ended questions we learned about in counseling
courses—who, what, where, when, how and occasionally, why. As a criminal lawyer, Bert said, the ultimate question is: Who stands to benefit?
One
problem for humanity today is that very few people think for themselves. Perhaps
it has to do with our technology. We can ask Google, or Alexa, or our “smart
speaker” just about anything. They may not get it right, or even understand
the question, but they will spit out an answer. Another problem is the massive
amounts of misinformation that we’re bombarded with every day. So much of it is
meant to misdirect, to misinform for a reason. And if we don’t take the time to
question, to research for ourselves, we are likely to believe whatever we’re
told. I’m just as guilty as anyone.
Carl
Jung said: “Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgement.”
(CW 10, p.344, para.652) No doubt that’s a version of “two heads are better
than one.” Also, it’s the foundation of our jury system. And, of course, Jung
was the person who identified “thinking types” when developing his human
typology theory. Thinking as opposed to feeling—which has to do with how one
processes information, and which function one trusts most. Do I trust my gut more
than my brain? Thinking types trust their brains more; they do the research. They
ask the questions and make decisions based on their findings. Feeling types ask
questions, too, but they trust emotions most. “How do you feel about that?”
Here’s
the Big Question according to Jung: “The decisive question for [mankind] is:
[Are we] related to something infinite or not? That is the telling question of [our]
life.” Then, we questioners grab the ball and run with it. Are we just
here for one cycle of the sun, or are we “forever” beings? What are we supposed
to learn in this lifetime? What is our task; what is our soul’s task? Is there
a God? Where is God? So many Big Questions! And so few answers! A curious mind
is both a blessing and a curse. It doesn’t let you rest much. However, it keeps
life interesting, forces us to become life-long learners, and it enriches our interests and personalities. I wonder about you—do you ask a lot of questions?
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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