Questions
Analysis | Diagrams | Innovators
What questions should you be asking yourself?
Potential to grow starts with a question. Its not what you know but knowing what to ask that uncovers potential, where it is the understanding of meta of the matter that matters most. What is the best question you could ask yourself to make meaningful progress right now?
Waiho kia patai ana, he kaha ui te kaha.
Context
Where is asking better questions important?
- Behaviour Biases: Catch mental traps
- Demand Driven Sales: Capture valuable stories
- Evolve: Improve understanding
- Persuasion: Communicate more effectively
- Problem Solving: Identify the root cause
Convictions
Conviction cannot be borrowed, it must be earned through experience.
- The better the questions the stronger the conviction.
- The talent of a person is in their ability to prompt the right question at the right time.
- Great questions are timeless pointers towards the truth.
Taxonomy of Questions
Different questions serve different purposes in your journey toward insight and agency.
1. Foundation Questions
These establish basic understanding and clarify concepts:
- What defines agency?
- How do you recognize it?
- How can you develop agency?
- What habits do you need to adopt?
2. First Principles Questions
These break down complex issues into fundamental truths:
- What are the core principles for redesigning education in the AI era?
- What unique human capabilities should we focus on developing?
- How can we leverage AI to amplify our collective problem-solving capacity?
- What bold vision of the future should guide our collaborative intent?
- Which outdated systems or beliefs are holding us back from transformative change?
- How can we harness decentralized technologies to empower a global community?
- What unexpected connections could lead to step improvements of fulfilled potential?
See decisions for application.
3. Challenge Questions
These test assumptions and push boundaries:
- What tools can you leverage well?
- What tools are you lacking that you really need?
- What is the difference between Human and AI pathways to gaining agency?
- What is different about what we want to do with agency?
4. Strategic Questions
These help you navigate complex decisions and plan ahead:
- What experiment could be run to verify the truth?
- How do we guide The Ghost in the Machine while we still can?
- What is the power of aligned human intentions? How could it be quantified?
When to Use Different Question Types
| Question Type | When to Use | Purpose | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clarification | When information is vague or ambiguous | To establish understanding | "What exactly do you mean by agency?" |
| Assumption | When accepted beliefs go unexamined | To test foundations | "Why do we believe AI will follow this development path?" |
| Evidence | When claims lack support | To validate ideas | "What evidence supports this market prediction?" |
| Perspective | When view is one-sided | To broaden thinking | "How would our competitors approach this problem?" |
| Implication | When planning | To anticipate outcomes | "What happens if this technology becomes widely adopted?" |
| Meta | When stuck in analysis | To step back | "Is this the right question to be asking?" |
Psychology
The question loop is the most powerful psychological trigger in human history...
When we see an unanswered question, our brains NEED to know the answer, this is known as the Zeigarnik Effect, and it's why we:
- Binge Netflix shows
- Can't stop scrolling social media
- Need closure in relationships
See behavioural biases for more.
Socratic Method: Checklist for Powerful Questioning
- Question Assumptions: Have I identified and challenged key assumptions?
- Seek Evidence: Have I asked for supporting evidence and reasoning?
- Consider Alternatives: Have I explored multiple perspectives and possibilities?
- Examine Implications: Have I considered the consequences and follow-through?
- Question the Question: Have I reflected on whether I'm asking the right question?
- Create Discomfort: Am I pushing beyond comfortable answers to deeper insights?
- Facilitate Don't Dictate: Am I guiding discovery rather than imposing conclusions?
Routine Practice
What habits can you cultivate to inspire the discovery of more insightful questions?
What is the most important/insightful/valuable question you can ask?
- Develop curiosity to feed your unconscious with a diverse array of ideas and concepts without concern about comprehension.
- Unhook your rational thought process and trust that your unconscious intelligence will find a way to fill the gaps and connect the dots.
Step outside the eye of your mind
Unconscious Intelligence
Your unconscious mind will turn over the last inputs it was given. Practice a ritual of evolving a question that provides deeper insight into the problem you are striving to resolve.
Curiosity, critical thinking, and accurate question framing are vital to effectively leveraging AI to progress safely.
- Once you formulate the question finish work.
- Do something to forget about the problem.
- Relax then sleep.
On waking have a pad ready to loosely catch thoughts without trying to put sense to anything, the intent is to capture the pure intent.
- Wake and journal to access your subconscious mind
- Refine the problem statement question
- Analyse evolution from the first question to the most recent.
Evolution of Insight
The greatest value is found in analysing the evolution of thought from the initial question until the last in reflecting growth in understanding.
When you start again with fresh eyes you might identify an important connection you previously missed.
- Step out of yourself
- Change constraints
- Make an analogy
- Look for patterns
- Don't be lazy
- Don't force it