"This aporia, this state of confusion and bafflement, is actually a fantastically exciting, liberating, intellectually stimulating place to be because you're really facing something that you don't know that you thought you did." - Dr. Lani Watson
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" This aporia, this state of confusion and bafflement, is actually a fantastically exciting, liberating, intellectually stimulating place to be because you're really facing something that you don't know that you thought you did." - Dr. Lani Watson
Dr. Lani Watson has spent her career on a question most of us never stop to ask. What is a question, and why does it hold such power?
Known online as The Questions Doctor, Lani is a philosopher and the author of Q: The Hidden Power of Questions in a World That Wants Answers. In this episode, we sit with the idea that questions are a kind of everyday magic. A power we all carry and rarely notice. They change our brains. They change our relationships. They shape the very answers we receive.
We talk about Socrates and the gift of not knowing. We talk about a world racing toward answers, and what we lose when we rush past the question. We talk about who gets to ask, and who does not.
Come sit with the questions a while. There is power in the asking, and it belongs to all of us.
This Curated Questions episode can be found on all major platforms and at CuratedQuestions.com.
Be sure to subscribe to the weekly Curated Questions Dispatch newsletter for more fun with questions and curiosity! (https://substack.com/@curatedquestions)
Keep questioning!
Episode Notes
00:00 Welcome to Curated Questions
02:28 Meet the Questions Doctor
03:17 Therapy Sparked the Insight
03:55 Questions Without Answers
05:50 Everyday Magic of Asking
06:54 From Curiosity to Career
08:16 A Neglected Field of Study
10:38 Socrates and the Missing Theory
12:46 Truth Seeking or Takedown
14:03 Aporia as the End Goal
15:01 Leaning Into Bafflement
18:41 Training the Ego Lightly
21:20 The Five Whys Practice
23:32 Creative Exercises Beyond Words
24:31 Why Write the Book Now
27:25 Questions as Power to Change
28:09 Brain Chemistry of Curiosity
32:22 School Suppresses Asking
37:23 Stress Closure and Tribalism
46:23 Humility Through Questions
47:36 Society And Critical Thinking
47:53 Education Shapes Thinking
49:37 Workplace Question Culture
49:55 Three Parts Of Great Questions
50:06 Content Context Communication
51:44 Asking The Right Source
52:09 Granddad Versus LLM Nuance
53:38 Trust And Social Bonding
55:04 Evolution Of Asking Others
57:16 Tech Temptation And Trust Loss
57:54 Micro Resist And Ask Humans
01:00:09 Directions Story And Connection
01:03:00 De Skilling From Not Asking
01:04:24 Ancient Everyday Questions
01:05:48 Evolutionary Comfort Cues
01:07:50 Novelty Seeking Practice
01:09:40 Inquisitiveness As Virtue
01:12:03 Question Storming Technique
01:16:33 Questions Dark Side
01:24:01 Lani's Right Now Question
01:26:47 Where To Contact Lani Watson
Resources Mentioned
Lani Watson (https://www.philosophyofquestions.com/)
Q: The Hidden Power of Questions in a World That Wants Answers by Lani Watson (https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/459733/q-by-watson-lani/9781847927842)
Socrates (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socrates)
Plato (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato)
Anne-Laure Lecunff (https://anne-laure.net/)
Intellectual Virtues Academy (https://www.ivalongbeach.org/)
Jason Baehr (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-baehr-529a8a63)
Right Question Institute (https://rightquestion.org/)
Ian Robson (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ian-robson-ab140710)
The Questioning Strengths Assessment (https://gilded-syrniki-638aee.netlify.app/)
Producer Ben Ford (https://www.producerbenford.com/)
Beauty Pill (https://www.beautypill.com/)