Pablo Picasso once said that “Computers are useless. They can only give answers.” I recently came to a profound realization. I could be wrong, but not completely, I’m sure. Here’s my thought. We cannot conceive a question that people, in particular, young people, can’t answer within seconds. And they can provide thousands upon thousands of answers within those seconds. Give them a minute and it will be millions. They have all the answers, literally, in the palms of their hands. They’re called iPhones or Droids or some other Star Wars-like name. They’re computers. They’re in their hands. And they give answers!
While I was growing up, we didn’t have the technology that we now take for granted. We used to go to the library to look for answers. There, they had what we called books! Young folks know what a book is but may not have ever opened one. The library eventually became a popular hangout when the internet came into existence because libraries were the first to have it for free. Libraries still have the internet but now there are plenty of other places where we can get connected for free, even in our cars. Nonetheless, we were looking for answers, and, as Picasso said, computers provided them, so we started to rely on them more and more.
Now, I’m not going to go so far as to agree with Picasso completely, but I do agree with what he was trying to say and that’s another profound thought I had the other day. If people already have answers, what are they now looking for? Questions! The right questions! As my friend, author Seth Godin, says, “Yes, asking questions is often more valued than answering them. (If they're the right questions.)”
I’m almost amazed at the Aha! looks I get when I’m speaking to an audience and ask the right questions. It’s that wow-I-hadn’t-thought-of-that look. My gut tells me that when you have all the answers, or you think you have all the answers, you stop looking for the questions.
The right questions, often, are the heart questions. Sometimes they’re the hard questions. They’re not the questions that will provide you more information but those that will help you think more deeply. Thinking, itself, is becoming a lost art, like reading books. We have computers that do that for us! The heart questions are “Who am I?” “What’s important, really important?” “Why am I here, what’s my purpose?” There are plenty more, but you can, surely, see where I’m going with this.
Lately, one of my favorite pastimes has become coming up with questions. My favorite pastime is asking those questions and watching audiences ponder them. Interestingly, they’re often the same questions asked in different ways. My sense is that the answers are probably mostly the same as well.
We have plenty of computers. As I write I have four of them on at once. They’re all bombarding me with answers. Sometimes they’re answers to questions I haven’t yet asked. I challenge you to think of the heart questions you think you already may have answers to. If they’re the right answers, seek the right questions.
Until next time,
Be GREAT! You ARE!
¡HEIRPOWER!
bob vásquez!
No comments:
Post a Comment