Do you ever wish for one of your questions to go unanswered? Have you ever considered the magic of unanswered questions, both for you and your children? Unanswered questions allow us to discuss, to dream, and to imagine the possible answers. They stimulate our brains in a way that no quick search online can. They allow us to connect with others in our lack of knowledge. “Hey, do you know ______________ ?”
Just imagine how important this mindset might be for you and your children. I think it provides an excellent pathway for verbal and written creativity, not to mention connections with other people. I’m sure there’s some research out there that backs this up. But let’s not look it up. In the spirit of this post, let’s just go with it.
Let’s recognize that we’ve moved from a society that used to question, debate, contemplate and possibly arrive at an answer to… one that questions and immediately goes to an online search.
Do You Have to Know?
We don’t always need to know the answer to everything. And neither do our children. We don’t need to google everything. Sometimes, it’s nice to just say, “I wonder why…” and not know. To come up with your own creative explanations.
Of course, it’s pretty nice to have answers to certain questions. Like ‘what is an irrational number?’, ‘how do I turn the water off if a pipe bursts?’ or ‘when is the registration deadline for the SAT?’. But often it’s quite okay to just wonder about stuff.
If you’re not deeply studying a topic, you might say, ‘I wonder how they make M & M’s’, ‘what do dogs think about (besides food)?’, or ‘how do birds know where to migrate to?’. Sure, you could look up the answers to all of these. But it may be better to just ponder. You and your children might come up with ideas that are much more exciting and entertaining than the truth.
Questions with No Answers
And then there are the questions that no one has the answer to, like ‘what’s beyond our universe?’ or ‘why does that man have a headband on?’ or ‘what did she mean when she said that?’.
It’s funny how a random comment from a complete stranger will stick with you. My youngest son and I were snowshoeing last week and we passed a woman going the other direction. As we moved aside to let her pass, she said to me, “You know, you can’t go forever.”
And you know what I said? I said, “I know.” Obviously, I did not know. I had no idea what she meant. But something in the tone of her voice compelled me to answer that way. It sounded like she was fully prepared to give me a lecture on the trail length, trail conditions, my stamina, or perhaps even my own mortality. It was more fun to say, “I know”, keep hiking, and ask my son what he thought she meant.
When You Need to Know, Go Deep
I think it’s important to understand that we don’t have to know it all. That we can have fun with the magic of unanswered questions. And that, when we do need to know, we’ll have the energy to look at a subject in depth.
I’m reading a new book about deep learning and understanding – concepts I feel are integral to our homeschooling. I’ll share more on this soon. In the meantime, I’d like to leave you with this – you can go as far as you want… I might have to say that to the next person I pass on a trail and give them something to ponder.
P.S. By the way, about a half-mile after we passed that woman, we came to fresh, unbroken snow. So, while we didn’t go forever, we did go farther than her.