I am starting to see how terrible most people are at asking questions

[TheAvatarState]

Wow, I've kind of experienced a paradigm shift since inquiring into the nature of inquiring. It's mind-blowing how little people actually know about their own language and how poor they are at thinking even 1 move ahead. It's like they flail around questions without considering what the answer might be... We know the trick to good questioning is knowing what you want  beforehand (weeding out the bullshit). Questions are tools.

It's funny, maybe one phrase altered the course of humanity forever. We've all heard it: "There are no stupid questions." Just contemplate the impact this statement has had over the years. Perhaps some good, but probably it's exponentially negative over one's lifetime. No one ever taught you how to formulate an effective question, despite this being a critical, foundational skill. There's almost no consciousness in 99% of questions I hear, and yes, I'm aware that I'm guilty of that too. But I'm really trying to increase the quality. Just thought I'd share how I'm finally starting to understand what Leo meant.

[tsuki]

Honestly, that is why I prefer answering other people's questions. Getting to the underlying contraction is very satisfying. 

Edited August 30, 2019 by tsuki

[Aeris]

2 minutes ago, tsuki said:

Honestly, that is why I prefer answering other people's questions. Getting to the underlying contraction is very satisfying. 

Why a need for answering though. Better self understanding ? Watching for contraction in yourself ? Fun ?

[tsuki]

@Aeris reading people deeply. 

It's a form of bonding. 

[DrewNows]

Nice man, I was always terrible at asking questions, I didn’t want to sound dumb, or lazy or whatever. What does it take to ask the right questions for those who don’t know what they want and have no faith in themselves or desire to think for themselves? 

[Aeris]

13 minutes ago, tsuki said:

@Aeris reading people deeply. 

It's a form of bonding. 

imagine if you put this power in externality outside of this relative place,

nah, there is a still need for something, some little self understanding at a deeper level that you deeply believe is still there.

I m my self caught in that sometimes, and sometimes not ( don't imagine that I m not wake by talking relative matter )

is your current life related in anyway to this place ?

I only see my own questions

 

[TheAvatarState]

11 minutes ago, DrewNows said:

Nice man, I was always terrible at asking questions, I didn’t want to sound dumb, or lazy or whatever. What does it take to ask the right questions for those who don’t know what they want and have no faith in themselves or desire to think for themselves? 

That person should start figuring out what they want. By questioning. You only get better at questioning by questioning then observing the results. At the beginning, We are all terrible at questioning. This requires thinking for one's self. Someone with no desire to do so cannot be helped. Even if they were given tips and tricks to ask better questions, the questions they would ask would ultimately be misguided and fruitless because they wouldn't understand themselves. "Question" and "answer" are precisely like yin and yang. 

[DrewNows]

10 minutes ago, TheAvatarState said:

That person should start figuring out what they want. By questioning. You only get better at questioning by questioning then observing the results. At the beginning, We are all terrible at questioning. This requires thinking for one's self. Someone with no desire to do so cannot be helped. Even if they were given tips and tricks to ask better questions, the questions they would ask would ultimately be misguided and fruitless because they wouldn't understand themselves. "Question" and "answer" are precisely like yin and yang. 

Cool I like it. Someone without the desire to think for themselves is stuck between yin and yang (question and answer) maybe...

ex. I don’t know the answer but I’m curious what it could be, I don’t desire to ask the question because I’m afraid of what people will think. I don’t want people to judge me for my question but I’ve never asked myself why I don’t desire to be heard. Why am I not enough to value my own question, my own desire?

This person cannot see questions as tools

 

[Monkey-man]

because we can't even think properly, consciousness isn't equal to being, its two opposites, being which is total wants to erase consciousness, consciousness is oppressed, therefore thinking is oppressed by reality itself

[mandyjw]

1 hour ago, tsuki said:

@Aeris reading people deeply. 

It's a form of bonding. 

I used to think that this was a subtle unsaid thing that everyone knew. It was a very frustrating and painful assumption to have.

[Nahm]

@TheAvatarState Great post. You ever have that experience where you do some daily practices, address the day’s responsibilities, etc, all the while with the awakening perspective open, connecting some dots here & there, pondering things,...and then you lay down at night to go to sleep, watching a video or whatever....and boom - an insight, or something you’re wondering below the surface pops up? Almost feels like wtf, where was that all day?

[TheAvatarState]

1 hour ago, DrewNows said:

I don’t know the answer but I’m curious what it could be, I don’t desire to ask the question because I’m afraid of what people will think. I don’t want people to judge me for my question but I’ve never asked myself why I don’t desire to be heard. Why am I not enough to value my own question, my own desire?

2 hours ago, DrewNows said:

 

You're able to self inquire alone, which means you do value your own desire for understanding. But when you're in a group, it sounds like social anxiety (fear) overrides it. This is very common, don't worry haha. So ask yourself, "Do I appreciate other people's questions? Am I turned off by their value of understanding?" Try visualizing yourself in their shoes. Would you be offended by your own question? The answer you should come to should be a comforting "no, I wouldn't be offended and yes I do appreciate when other people ask questions because I learn from them." It's easy to see that this social fear is completely unfounded. And yet, it's a strong force that can be difficult to overcome. This is where the spirit of "there are no stupid questions" comes in, but we have to make an important distinction. The "aim" of a question can certainly be pointless and stupid, but if you clearly understand where you'd like to go (and it serves a purpose), then all questions in that direction are good enough to ask, even if you're not able to word it well. 

Here's what I mean by questions and answers being Yin and Yang. A question has the seed (black dot) of an answer inside it, and an answer has the seed (white dot) for a question. One cannot exist without the other. Notice that every question contains within it a hidden metaphysical framework. A question sets the ground rules, thereby influencing the answer. And every answer is partial, dualistic, and in its own way begs another question. Think of it like quantum entanglement. They are interlinked. When you realize this, then you'll understand the quality of a question influences the quality of the answer. Just some food for thought, I hope that helped!  

[TheAvatarState]

38 minutes ago, Nahm said:

.and then you lay down at night to go to sleep, watching a video or whatever....and boom - an insight, or something you’re wondering below the surface pops up? Almost feels like wtf, where was that all day?

Oh, all the time! Insight is not your own.

[Nahm]

@TheAvatarState For sure. Been noticing sitting with a pad of paper, and a little distraction, same thing happens like w the insights but w questions. 

[tsuki]

9 hours ago, Aeris said:

imagine if you put this power in externality outside of this relative place,

This relative place, meaning forum? I do. What's the point otherwise?
This place is a playground, training wheels. I'm being sincere though.

9 hours ago, Aeris said:

nah, there is a still need for something, some little self understanding at a deeper level that you deeply believe is still there.

Nothing deeper when it comes to reality, just more skill in reading people.
I'm also interested in the occult stuff, but I'm not practicing that (deliberately) for the time being.

9 hours ago, Aeris said:

is your current life related in anyway to this place ?

Other than being my drug of choice? No.

9 hours ago, Aeris said:

I only see my own questions

I have none. Care to share some?

[tsuki]

7 hours ago, mandyjw said:

I used to think that this was a subtle unsaid thing that everyone knew. It was a very frustrating and painful assumption to have.

They do, but they are not aware of this just yet .
It takes skill to interest people instead of triggering them.