The Empty Satisfaction of an Answer

An answer is seductive.  When we're faced with a problem an answer is less painful than the problem, so we think.  But I've been struck by the curiosity anemia that substitutes the first answer for a better answer.  I think we get seduced by the comfort of the false security we feel when at least there is an explanation.

Consider this:

• When the question is political, our reflex is to align with our political party. I'm a fiscal conservative... but should I be a debt hawk because most republicans are?

• In the absence of full information, I fill the gap with the worst possible scenario... whether I'm worried about a child who is late to come home, or a co-worker who got promoted ahead of me.

I have remembered many times the disappointment I had when I learned to multiply fractions.  My world model was that multiplication always led to a bigger number.  Then someone taught me to multiply fractions and my incomplete view of multiplication was shredded.  My initial truths were helpful, but limited.

We laugh, but we often live with our initial truths for decades.  Many of my fellow evangelicals often live the truths taught to them shortly after their conversion.  That information was very helpful for sorting out major life questions in the beginning.  But 20 years later, the depth of their insight is often no greater than on day 2 of their Christian walk.  Is there no room for growing maturity and the subtlety of insight that comes with living a few years and studying the scriptures?  By analogy, if we were still walking as we did as toddlers, we could not dance.  Why are we still intellectually or spiritually toddlers instead of dancers?  I think it is because we too quickly become satisfied with our first understanding.

I have a friend who says, "Of course my opinion is right. If it were wrong, I would change it." But how would he know?

For years, I have been with students who just want the answer; forgetting the principles to be taught by the homework itself.  I have been with bosses who just want to know the results, even if the measurement system is uncertain.  I have been with grieving friends who want simple answers, and pretend to be satisfied with platitudes. I read emails from high school friends who still see beer in a basement as the highest form of fun... and that was our estimate in 1979 too.

We demand an answer from politicians, employers, spouses, and school administrators.  How often have I personally quoted a source I can't remember from a context that was irrelevant to an audience who just wanted someone to agree? We place higher value on a fast plausible answer than on an effective mature response.  We have lost the curiosity that would truly satisfy.  We've accepted Band Aid answers that cover up cancer problems.

Of course, we cannot be analysts for every decision.  Sometimes we just choose and move on.  But that is usually for things of little consequence.  My complaint is when we just choose and move on for the big stuff.

Here is the cure, I think:

• Cultivate curiosity.  We need to be people who want to know more fully. We need to encourage those who are willing to ask for the reasons behind the simple answers.  When people have explored the alternatives and returned unsatisfied with other options; when they know why the answer is correct, then the solution is gold plated.
• Cultivate wisdom. Some things have to be decided quickly -- We don't want our metaphorical Emergency Room docs to ponder the nature of blood before sewing a stitch.  But we need to be prepared for better than Band Aid answers by discovery and experience before the high stakes stuff stares us in the face.  We need to hang out with wise people, and build wide networks that will teach us more than we know.
• Cultivate courage.  I don't mean bravado; I mean the humility to test our convictions. I met a young man recently who was convinced that he should become a pastor.  I asked him if he was convinced enough that he would be willing to explore other options.  The inference was that if he should  be a pastor, then there was no risk to exploring other options to confirm his call.  He was less than enthusiastic.  But wouldn't his conviction be stronger if he had explored the possibility that he was initially wrong and then convinced himself that he was in fact right?  Courage in this sense is the cousin of humility, openness, and teach-ability.  It takes courage to consider that there may be a better answer than the one we have committed ourselves to follow.

I am convinced that curiosity, wisdom, and courage are the new currency of affluence.  I suppose that you could consider this a kind of three part posture. The consequence of living in a way that practices curiosity, builds wisdom, and lives with humble courage is that empty satisfaction of the first answers will eventually be replaced by fuller and more complete understanding.

As parents, as leaders, as influencers, we can set the tone and the pace that encourages these traits. Perhaps we need to be more thoughtful about the experiences and training and protection we offer your children and our protégés.  Are we cultivating a hunger that is not satisfied by the fast food of the first answer?  Or are we sending our kids after the french fries of simple and incomplete conclusions?