What is a common question which children ask?
WHY
Why do the stars twinkle?
Why I can’t eat pastries in the night?
Why do I need to eat vegetables every day?
Why should I eat strawberry ice cream when I like tender coconut ice cream?
WHY so?
Because they are curious about how things work
WHY?
Because when we explain,
in children’s minds,
the information is chunked down or
broken down into manageable pieces which they can use later
WHY?
Because the child’s brain
“breaks” information (especially new)
into chunks which can then
be matched with other chunks
to build an information highway
WHY?
Because the brain is always trying
to conserve energy and
it can do it better
if it chunks information rather
than just dumping information into a memory brain
Did you notice that?
We just took one fact and
kept asking WHY – WHY
to get to the root cause and
also to deepen our understanding.
Whenever someone tells you a fact
(or seems like a fact) ask WHY and
then ask WHY again and
again till you understand it very well
You may get certified as
a “pain in the neck” however
your deeper understanding
will pay off in the long term
With the growth of social media
and shortened attention spans,
there is a premium on long form and depth
Depth comes from
deploying curiosity relentlessly
esp in the world of fake news
and paid content,
it’s important that
we understand things in their depth
Eugene Wei says write the process on a piece of paper as this clarifies thinking
share in comments
Ask yourself
What is one area of your life in which you would like to get to the depth?
Why?