As I’ve grown older over the years, one striking thing that I’ve noticed in people is that they ask the question “why” less as they get older. On the other hand, whenever I talk to children they are always full of curiosity and ask the question “why” to everything that is happening around them and is being said.
The question “why” is one of the most important questions that we can ask. I find it is the only question that leads us to a deeper understanding of a matter that we are looking into. Also, as we ask this question we can think for ourselves, which will help us discover the truth instead of lies that might be blurring out the truth. As the youth grow older, they ask and question things less, they assume more and believe they know more.
Being a youth is a challenging time, just like any stage of life. A common mistake that young adults make is assume they know everything and that they are always right. They stop asking questions and learning actively. If it wasn’t for school, most young people wouldn’t care to learn about anything that is out of their reach and comfort zones.
Some think that by asking the question “why” it will hurt their ego. They would rather maintain status quo rather than asking the question “why” as they think other people will see them as inferior because of their lack of understanding. Young people are very self-conscious of how their actions would be judged by their peers and other members of society.
Some just don’t want to be that annoying person that is always asking why in every situation. It can get uncomfortable when you ask why and everyone rolls their eyes, because that is all you are known for.
It’s better to know than to be uninformed, we should be mindful of our ego and have the awareness to ask this question, despite what other people think of us. No matter how many responsibilities we take on, we will always have enough time to ask this question for a deeper understanding, even if that means answering the question over multiple days or weeks. We can be moderate in asking this question after doing thorough research into a subject to avoid asking this question unnecessarily, leading to frustration of other members in our society.
No matter how old we get, we should always ask the question “why”. Without asking this question, we lose our ability to understand how things work and risk falling prey to the potential falsehoods that give the illusion of truth.
*Olavi Popyeinawa has a diploma in Alternative Dispute Resolution and is currently studying law, LLB at the University of Namibia (Unam). He will weekly contributing this column on youth mattersInstagram: niceguy_olavi Facebook: Olavi Longfellow Twitter: @OlaviPopyeinawa