This I Believe

Whitney - Suffolk, Virginia
Entered on April 28, 2008
Age Group: 18 - 30
Themes: question

I believe that you should always ask questions, no matter how foolish you think they sound.

All over the world people strive to be the best they can be. People are always trying to increase their knowledge to make every aspect of their lives more successful. Asking questions can help achieve this. There are times when you may not understand something, and you feel you need to ask about it. Majority of the time in the back of a persons mind, they are thinking whether or not their question is stupid, and if they should say it aloud, with the possible risk being of being ridiculed. I say, you should say what is on your mind. No question is too stupid, so never be afraid to ask it. If you do not understand something, or even if you just want to reaffirm your belief about the simplest of things, you should address someone about it. More than likely there is a person near you who is wondering the exact same thing, but is too afraid to speak up from the fear of feeling foolish. Be brave and just ask. You have to overcome the fear of being judged by your peers. You are out to help yourself and by not asking a question you are hurting your chances of succeeding in something you want to do. A simple question can benefit yourself and others.

A life of questions gives you options. Asking a question can lead to many other questions and answers with different possibilities. Every person has the right to ask questions. Imagine a world where no one questions anything. Everyone would just accept every new idea, and not question the old ones. While there may never be any arguments amongst people, the final effect would hurt society. What if no one ever questioned whether the world was round or not? Would we still fear we could fall off the edge? Those who questioned the Earth being round were viewed as lunatics, but this one question lead to other scientific studies showing that the Earth was round indeed. A question may seem stupid to some, but brilliant to others. If we do not question things our lives would be full of false-positives. Everyone should always wonder, “What if…?” and never be afraid to speak up about an assumption. Asking questions leads to endless possibilities. Who knows, you may be the next person to question something, and change everyone’s outlook on life and their views of the world.