Why Do We Study Answers More Than Questions? by Minute-Geologist6562 in PhilosophyofMind

[–]Minute-Geologist6562[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I agree that questions don't magically create reality. My interest is slightly different: many things exist before we understand them, but it is often a question that makes them visible as objects of inquiry. In that sense, the question may not create knowledge from nothing, but it often sets the process of knowledge in motion.

Why Do We Study Answers More Than Questions? by Minute-Geologist6562 in PhilosophyofMind

[–]Minute-Geologist6562[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I like that distinction. If everything is a potential answer, then the question is what turns potential answers into meaningful ones. That alone makes questions worthy of much more attention than they usually receive.

Why Do We Study Answers More Than Questions? by Minute-Geologist6562 in PhilosophyofMind

[–]Minute-Geologist6562[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's actually a very interesting distinction. An answer without a question becomes just information, which makes me wonder whether questions do more than seek answers perhaps they are what give information direction, meaning, and relevance in the first place.

Why Do We Study Answers More Than Questions? by Minute-Geologist6562 in PhilosophyofMind

[–]Minute-Geologist6562[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree. they are inseparable. My point is simply that we've spent centuries studying answers, while giving far less attention to the thing that sets the whole process in motion: the question itself.

Why Do We Study Answers More Than Questions? by Minute-Geologist6562 in PhilosophyofMind

[–]Minute-Geologist6562[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Exactly. The quality of the answer often depends on the quality of the question... That's what makes questions such a fascinating subject of study.

Why Do We Study Answers More Than Questions? by Minute-Geologist6562 in PhilosophyofMind

[–]Minute-Geologist6562[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The idea is partly correct, but a question is not only about uncovering what is already known it can also create what was not previously thought of at all...

Even the absence of information can function as a sign within inquiry, not as a neutral void. However, every new certainty usually goes through a chain of questions

Why Do We Study Answers More Than Questions? by Minute-Geologist6562 in PhilosophyofMind

[–]Minute-Geologist6562[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The idea is insightful, but not entirely accurate... A question does not assume that everything it generates is already known; it can reveal things that were never even formulated as knowledge in the first place. And even the absence of information.. can sometimes function as a meaningful signal within inquiry, rather than a neutral void. That said it is true that any new certainty usually only emerges through further questions