Out with the answers and in with the questions

Chris Matarazzo,

You know how everyone says “we need to find answers?” I think it’s just the opposite. We need to find questions.

If you look for answers, you will get them, wrong or right; drenched in bias or not; accurate or inaccurate.

If you look for questions and ask those questions of yourself, you will eventually find your answer — the one that makes sense to you and that is sincerely won. You might be “wrong,” but at least it will be you. At that point, your conclusion be will what you truly believe and not what you were coerced to believe by circumstance, vocal decibels or slinky logical gymnastics.

Say what you want about Jesus. Believe he was the Son of God or just some hippie who taught brilliant lessons in the streets. One thing you can’t refute is that the guy shaped Western Civilization with his ideas; therefore, it follows that he must have had a ridiculously good grip on the best way to help people learn. How’d he do it? Parables. Essentially: “Here’s a story. Now, figure it out.” He posed questions. His “tests” were essay, not multiple choice, as it were. In Biblical terms, even God didn’t want to force you to believe stuff.

And, lo, the Lord sayeth: “The stickiest lesson is when students findeth answers themselves.”

Teach yourself by asking questions. Tons of them. Hard questions. (One of my personal favorites is: “What if I am a total idiot and I just don’t know it?”)

Then, maybe, consider whether it’s best to keep the conclusions to yourself or to share them. But that’s whole other box of rubber bands …

Chris Matarazzo

Chris Matarazzo is a writer, composer, musician and teacher of literature and writing on the college and high school levels. His music is available on all streaming services and on his YouTube channel. Chris is also the composer of the score to the off-beat independent film Surrender Dorothy and he performs frequently in the Philadelphia area with the King Richard Band and Mysterious Ways. He's also a relatively prolific novelist, even if no one seems to care yet. His Hats and Rabbits blog continues in its latest incarnation on Substack.

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