Many believe that education stops once we graduate from school. But actually it ceases only when we stop entertaining our curiosity and stop asking questions. Brilliant thinkers, great inventors and legendary scientists never stop asking questions because they know that this is the best way to gain deeper insights.

1. 24 Pallikkutam | January 2017
ThePowerof‘Why’
Manu Melwin Joy
Manybelievethateducationstopsoncewegraduatefromschool.
Butactuallyitceasesonlywhenwestopentertainingourcuriosityand
stopaskingquestions.Brilliantthinkers,greatinventorsandlegendary
scientistsneverstopaskingquestionsbecausetheyknowthatthisisthe
bestwaytogaindeeperinsights.
COVER STORY
24 Pallikkutam | January 2017

2. 25January 2017 | Pallikkutam
O
ne fine morning, I was sitting in the
drawing room of my flat, reading
newspaper and sipping a hot cup
oftea. Everythingwas perfectlyfine
till the moment my three year old
daughter appeared from nowhere.
Her facial expression was classic:
brows arched, mouth slack, eyes
wide and unblinking. I sensed the
imminent danger. She was going
to ask me a serious question and
most probably, I don’t know the
answer. She asked: “Dad, why did
God make mosquitoes?Alltheydo
isbiteyou.WhywouldHedothat?!”
I somehow managed to escape
from the battlefield. This is a daily
nightmare faced by most parents.
Harried by the pressures of day to
day life, we tend to ignore these
questions. But it is important to
realize the cardinal role played by
thesequestionsinthedevelopment
ofourchild’spersonality.
Edwin H. Land who died on
March 1, 1991 was a renowned
American scientist and inventor
who is second only to Thomas
Edison in the number of patents
he received. Even though he has
535patentstohiscredit,heisbetter
known for his Polaroid instant
camera, which went on sale in late
1948, made it possible for a picture
to be taken and developed in 60
seconds or less. He later revealed
thattheinspirationforhimtoinvent
it was a question asked by his
daughter.Whileonvacation,Land’s
three year old daughter asked him
why she couldn’t see a photo he
had taken of her right away. He
tried to explain to her that they still
needed to be developed, but it
didn’t comfort her. So Land went
into the lab and created a system
of one-step photography. That
wasthe birth ofthe Polaroid instant
camera.
It all began with an innocuous
question asked by an innocent
threeyearold.What’sthe onething
that the world’s leading innovators
share with children? They both
learn by asking questions -- the
simplest and most effective way
of learning. Questions create
the challenges that make
us learn. Yet somehow
we seem to have
forgottenthislesson
as we get older.
We just don’t
value questioning
as much as we
should.
Many believe
that education
stops once we
graduate from school.
But actuallyit ceases only
when we stop entertaining
our curiosity and stop asking
questions. Brilliant thinkers, great
inventors and legendary scientists
never stop asking questions
because they know that this is the
best way to gain deeper insights.
EdwinH.Land

3. 26 Pallikkutam | January 2017
Most of us are familiar with the
works of Isaac Newton and Albert
Einstein -- widely accepted as
greatest physicists of all time. What
many of us may easily ignore is
the similarity in how they began
their scientific journey -- with just
a question. While young Newton
was walking in an orchard, he
noticed an apple fall and he asked
himself: “Why did the apple fall
down and why does the moon
not fall into the Earth?” This simple
question was the trigger to all his
future accomplishments. Later, he
described the gravitational force
and stated that all planets and stars
moved as they did because of this
force, earning him the name “the
fatherofgravity”.Albert Einstein also
began by asking just one simple
question:“Whatwouldtheuniverse
look like if I rode through it on a
beam of light” This put Einstein on
theroadtoexplaininghistheoriesof
understand. They start wanting to
know ‘why?’ about what seems
like every little thing. “Why is the
sky blue?” “Why do people die?”
“Where did I come from?” and
the list goes on. In 2012, online
retailer Littlewoods surveyed
1000 mothers with children aged
between two and ten. The results
showed that young children ask
their mums an astonishing 228
questionsaday.
Psychologists assert that
questions play an important role
in child development. Why are
questions considered to be so
important for learning? When your
childasksaquestion,heistakingan
active role in his own learning. He
istryingto figure out howhisworld
worksbysearchingforinformation.
As he asks questions, he is
developing critical thinking skills
that build brain power. Apart from
this, asking question is a crucial
form of communication. The child
is seeking out a knowledgeable
person -- you, another child, a
family member or caretaker --
and looking for information he
needs. Finally,whenyourchild asks
questions, it shows howvital, good
relationships are, in helping them
learn and grow. Children rely on
people they love and trust to help
themlearn.
COVER STORY
IsaacNewton AlbertEinstein
relativity.Thesetheoriescompletely
changed the way we view space
andtime.
Young children are curious
beings. They look at their
environment in awe, yearn to
smell and touch what they haven’t
before, question what they don’t

4. 27January 2017 | Pallikkutam
The writer is an Asst. Professor at
SCMS, Kochi.
As parents, it would be
impractical to answer every single
questionthrownbyyourchild.Even
thoughyoungchildrenmayappear
relentlesswiththeir“why”questions,
they may not necessarily want an
answer -- just an opportunity to
engage in a conversation about
something they are interested
in. When you discourage a child
from asking questions, there could
be a detrimental effect on their
development and they will tend to
shrink into their own shell. Parents
could encourage their children to
ask questions by showing that they
value their questions. This can be
conveyed through the excitement
inourvoiceandbybeinggenuinely
interested in what they have to say.
Instead of simply answering with
“yes” or “no”, we should elaborate
and make a comment. We could
even respond with our own
question: “Good question, why
do you think this happened?”Your
child’s courage to ask questions
and your willingness to answer
them plays a big role in shaping
their personality. You are helping
your child expand their view of
the world, and to accumulate
knowledge that will eventually
make the world a better place for
them to live. As parents, we need
to encourage questions from our
children. So hopefully one day,
theircuriositymight bethe catalyst
forgreat changes.
“The quality ofyour life depends
onthe qualityofthe questionsyou
askyourself”-AnthonyRobbins.
Parentscould
encouragetheir
childrentoask
questionsbyshowing
thattheyvaluetheir
questions.Thiscan
beconveyedthrough
theexcitementinour
voiceandbybeing
genuinelyinterested
inwhattheyhave
tosay.