To Ask Is to Think

By Gu Dian

The ability to ask questions reveals the depth of one's thinking power.

Take the topic “People never finish books nowadays” for instance, most people respond to it by means of sighing, complaining or telling a few jokes. However, I often ask 6 WHYs in a row.

1 Q: Why aren't people finishing books nowadays?

A: Because their methods of reading are wrong and there is too much on their book lists.

2 Q: Why is there too much knowledge?

A: Because the knowledge is so extensive that we do not know what to single out, or because we are in an era of professional subdivision and knowledge explosion.

3 Q: Why do you have to finish learning all the knowledge?

A: In fact, you don't have to finish it. Just learn something useful. As for certain knowledge, ask someone who knows it.

4 Q: How can we judge if what we have learned is useful?

A: See if it helps you solve your problems more efficiently and most satisfyingly.

5 Q: What's the biggest problem facing you now? Why is it so important to you?

A: It often involves one's values and everyone has problems of their own.

6 Q: Why do people need to solve problems?

A : ...

You can clearly see that the further you go down, the deeper you think. When answering the first two questions, most of the problems can be solved through techniques and strategies, such as “XX Reading Method” or “XX Book List.” When answering the later questions, thinking becomes systematic and judgment standards follow. If you continue to ask a fifth and sixth question, you will find that you are gradually moving into the realm of values and philosophy. This is a how-what-why process.

Einstein once said, “If I have to answer an important question in an hour, I will spend 55 minutes considering whether I'm asking the right question.”

(From Transition, Zhongxin Press. Translation: Xia Jianqing)

提問即思考

文/古典

提問的能力，頗能看出一個人思考的深度。

比如“書讀不過來了”這個話題，大部分人的思路是感嘆一下，抱怨一下，講幾個笑話。我常常會連續(xù)追問6個“Why”（為什么）。

1W：為什么書讀不過來？

答：因為方法不對，且知識太多。

2W：為什么知識太多？

答：因為篩選不夠，也因為專業(yè)細(xì)分和知識爆炸。

3W：為什么非要學(xué)完這些知識不可？

答：其實不一定要學(xué)完，只要學(xué)到其中有用的就好，有些領(lǐng)域別人懂，問人就好了。

4W：怎么才能判斷哪些是學(xué)了有用的知識？

答：最高效、最妥善解決你的問題的。

5W：你有什么問題？為什么這個問題對你這么重要？

答：往往涉及個人價值觀的層面，每個人都有自己的大問題。

6W：人為什么要解決問題？

答：……

你能明顯看到，越是往下，思考越深入。當(dāng)回答1W、2W的時候，大部分問題可以通過技術(shù)和策略，比如“××讀書法”“××?xí)鴨巍眮斫鉀Q；當(dāng)回答3W、4W的時候，思考就變成系統(tǒng)和判斷標(biāo)準(zhǔn)；如果你繼續(xù)追問5W、6W，就會發(fā)現(xiàn)你逐漸進(jìn)入價值觀和哲學(xué)層面。這是一個“How（怎么做）—What（做什么）—Why（為什么）”的過程。

所以，愛因斯坦說：“如果我必須用1小時解決一個重要問題，我會花55分鐘考慮我是否問對了問題。”

（摘自《躍遷》中信出版社）