Ask the Next Question

Theodore Sturgeon was an American fiction author. There is an award named in his honor. The trophy for the award features a stylized Q with an arrow through it.

Sturgeon wore this symbol around his neck and used it in his signature. He explained its meaning in an essay for Cavalier Magazine.

What it means is: Ask the next question.
Every advance this species has ever made is the result of someone…asking that next question.

He went on to assert that every deadly error and every sin against itself that humanity has committed is the result of not asking the next question or not listening to those who do ask it. In the essay’s priceless conclusion, Sturgeon imagines a voice from the crowd asking “Just who the hell do you think you are?” His response: “That’s it. Don’t stop there.”

Ask the next question, and the one after that.

This credo of critical thinking is the jumping off point and basis for my own continuing education. Questions are more important than answers. That said, the answers, insofar as they can be known, hold value and interest too. Curious about the answer to a question asked? Run and find out!