This week we’ve got to think about the importance of asking questions. Curiosity has a bad name for itself. The saying tells us if you ‘ask me no questions, I’ll tell you no lies’. Saint Augustine wrote in Confessions, AD 397, that eons before creating heaven and earth, God “ fashioned hell for the inquisitive.” While in Don Juan, Lord Byron called curiosity “that low vice.” After all, is curiosity not just a slightly more polite way of saying ‘nosy?’ Nosy parkers are mostly interested in other people’s business, while curiosity is pushing buttons, turning corners and opening doors for no other reason than to see what happens. And, like it or not, we are all naturally curious. But somewhere along the way many of us have stopped being curious. There are too many people who go through life without asking who, why, what, when, where or how. Instead, we find comfort in routine and the familiar, and prefer the status quo to the world of change and uncertainty in which curiosity resides. Curiosity has been the driving force behind most inventions, discoveries, and adventures in the history of mankind. Were it not for the curiosity of Christopher Columbus, Lewis and Clark, and countless others, there would be no ‘United States of America,’ let alone cars, electricity, phones, or computers. The scientific revolution that took place in Europe happened largely because of curiosity. So as our leaders make great strides in development, let us as individuals simply ask more questions. Let us reject face values and refuse to let things pass unexplained. The questions we ask will be our contribution to the progress of this country. All hope is not lost. We are still curious. Think about our love of the internet. If people didn’t have so many questions, it wouldn’t provide so many answers. In our main story this week, we look at curious Ngabo Jean de Dieu who wanted to take full advantage of his studies by asking the why of events. Remember, curiosity may have killed the cat but it made its eight other lives far more interesting! Ends
