Who Are We?

Tanner J. Brown

Midlothian Highschool 2021'

Author Note

This paper is simply for initiating beginnings into scientific inquiry and is not meant to be used as fact or convention. There is no affiliation with any third party in the development of this paper, only inspiration from outside influences and sources.

Abstract

Topics discussed in this paper reflect off of each other. Reasons behind our nature, and what that nature means are discussed often, but rarely discovered. Our purpose in the entirety of the ever-infinite and expanding universe is entirely unknown and may remain that way for all we know. It is the discovery of such things that create our impulse to ask, our impulse to look at the stars and our place within them and ask — why?

Why Asking is More Important than the Answers.

This paper begs more questions than it answers, but that is what constitutes its beauty in a sense. The human mind does not crave the satisfaction of knowing, but the act of learning and developing such knowledge questioned. It is the development of knowledge that drives us to learn, which gives us answers. If indeed we were satisfied with the answers and knowledge discovered and learning, we would not question further. But this is not so, we continue to ask questions. Having the answers and not being satisfied is what drives this, thus creating a positive feedback loop of an ever-hungry passion to ask questions, rather than to know answers. “Questions drive us to answers we never thought to consider until we asked the question.” (Johnson, 2016, p. 1)

Why Asking is Initiated.

A question in of itself-why do we ask? It has been established the reasoning of why we ask questions, but not the proposition of why questions are asked in the first place. Why do we feel the need to ask questions? Why are they so important for us to know? Why do we need to know anything at all? Like I said: this paper begs more questions than answers. Of course, all of these questions can be broken down into simpler parts of evidence provided by neuroscience and psychology. While I lack education in these fields, it is reasonable to assume that curiosity, defined by Merriam-Webster as “The desire to know”, is the prime factor of asking questions.

Our brains desire to know, and it is not entirely known why. But, there are theories that explain what purpose curiosity serves to human survival. George Loewenstein(1994) explains that curiosity is like hunger, we strive to fill our gaps of hunger(knowledge) so that we do not starve.

Why This Explanation Does Not Matter.

While the explanation from Loewenstein is great overall, the theory is provided for the reason why the human brain and body require curiosity to maintain survival and influence, but not curiosity’s purpose in us within the constitution of the universe itself. While the purpose of curiosity can be theorized, the foundation on which it is built is still incomplete. That foundation of our purpose is like a puzzle: we can develop mere fragments of our understanding of our purpose in the universe, through science and stipulation, but it is our forever gaps in knowledge that are like those pieces which remain hidden under the couch of time.

Since we will always ask questions, because it is our nature, we will always be in search of the missing pieces. Maybe, Curiosity is not the strive to fill a daily hunger, but rather a force acting upon us, that drives us to complete and fill the gaps of knowledge of our purpose- to find our missing piece.

In time, we may find our answers, but for now, we ask questions.

Look around, observe, find your place in the universe and then ask yourself — why?

References

Johnson, T. (2012, April 27). Asking questions is more important than finding answers — why? Retrieved April 02, 2021, from https://idratherbewriting.com/2012/04/27/asking-questions-is-more-important-than-finding-answers-why/

Curiosity. (n.d.). Retrieved April 02, 2021, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/curiosity

Loewenstein G. The Psychology of Curiosity: A Review and Reinterpretation. Psychological

Bulletin. 1994;116(1):75–98.