Children’s Constant Questions

“The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently.” - Nietzsche

I’ve always loved this quote. In today’s society with the never-ending mental load and severe overstimulation of all of our senses, burnt-out parents quickly tire of their children’s questions. Because yeah - it is tiring to answer all the why’s, what if’s and how’s. But encouraging a child’s relentless questioning of everything around them is a crucial part of developing their intellectual and emotional intelligence.  

Why?

There is a reason why our brains release dopamine when we encounter new things. It’s an evolutionary mechanism that aims to encourage us to gain new knowledge. Not to expose ourself only to the familiar, but to find value in the unfamiliar. To tell us to welcome and consider the differing, even seemingly outrageous things we encounter: including the thinking of others.

When we nurture a child’s curiosity, it is not only their intellectual minds that benefit, but their relationships too. When we encourage our child to respect, welcome, and understand opinions different to their own, their emotional intelligence and empathy grow. They become more equipped to understand people with views and lives different than their own. Consider the warmth of a friend or partner who is non-dismissive: who is genuinely interested in your perspective, no matter how different from their own. Someone who does not look down on your contrary views.

These last few years, it seems that mainstream “herd-like” thinking has been appreciated more than ever. Similarly, too often valued is the mentality of the “easy”, obedient “do as I say” child over the free-thinking, questioning one. When this is the case, I believe a conscious re-evaluation of exactly where we want to spend our energy is necessary. We must carefully consider the aspects of life we might need to tone down so that we do have the patience we need for the more critical, albeit energy-consuming aspects of parenting.