The Power of Inquiry

McConnell Scholars at the
Harvard IOP National Campaign Consortium.

This semester I was fortunate enough to attend the National Campaign Consortium at the Harvard Institute of Politics as a representative of the McConnell Center.  During this two-day conference, we discussed "Beyond Voting: Deliberative Democracy and Civic Engagement" with various experts in the field.  Of these, Bob Stains from the Public Conversations Project presented the "Power of Inquiry and Searching for Wise Questions." Here are a few of my notes from his presentation:

In Elie Wiesel's autobiographical depiction of the Holocaust, Night, his religious teacher Moshe tells him

"every question possessed a power that was lost in the answer."

This brings into question whether the answer is more important than the journey traversed to find it.  There is a certain power in the desire to discover capital-T Truth.  It is this power that drives us to continue seeking meaning in books, events, and life in general.  However, the other half of this argument is that once an answer is uncovered, the power dissipates into the ether.  It is in that moment that we are driven to ask a new question because the silence is uncomfortable.

Within this search for capital-T Truth, doubt plays an important role.  When the creeping sense of doubt arises it will lead down one of two paths.  First, and seemingly more common, is that doubt slowly chips away at your foundation until it destroys your beliefs. Or, on the other hand, you can use doubt to formulate wise questions that lead to the critical inspection of your belief system.  This strategy allows you to use each glimpse of doubt as a building block to strengthen your position.  In this way, doubt can make or break you.

The lesson to be taken away from the discussion of Inquiry is to understand the power that wise questions maintain.  Moreover, if used appropriately, such questions can facilitate productive discussion that allows all those involved to learn not only about the opinion of their opposition, but also more about themselves and their own beliefs.  As you continue to question life and its meaning, keep in mind that often the questioning is more powerful than the conclusion.