Brain Food #506
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Thoughts of the day
Good morning.
A thought that often crosses my mind is that life is not about having the right answers, but about asking the right questions. After all, progress, in science and at a personal level, also comes from asking questions. Are we alone in the universe? Am I a good person?
Yet, some of the easiest questions to ask somehow become the hardest, perhaps because from them also stem some of the hardest answers. But the hard questions are also the ones that could lead to a form of revelation or connection, uncovering the fact that we are not at all as alone as we thought. If anything, asking a good question may just lead to a decent conversation.
When was the last time you asked someone how they are feeling?
“How strange it is. We have these deep terrible lingering fears about ourselves and the people we love. Yet we walk around, talk to people, eat and drink. We manage to function. The feelings are deep and real. Shouldn't they paralyze us? How is it we can survive them, at least for a little while? We drive a car, we teach a class. How is it no one sees how deeply afraid we were, last night, this morning? Is it something we all hide from each other, by mutual consent? Or do we share the same secret without knowing it? Wear the same disguise?”
Don DeLillo, White Noise
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