Why?

Albert Einstein once said that one should "question everything." He was a really smart guy and was pretty much on point with his theory of relativity, so who am I to disagree.

In fact, I've spent the past seven years or so in higher education trying to learn to become and to teach others to become a critical thinker and to ask the dangerous question: why.

Thus, it baffles my mind to live immersed in a culture that shies away from this idea and at times even seems to be afraid of it. Now, certainly, I am generalizing. And three months of living in Japan does not an expert make. However, in my attempt to learn about and acclimate into Japanese culture, I have asked "why" many a time to many a person. And at least 70 percent of the time, the responses I get are some variation of "I don't know," "just because" or "because it's always been this way."

To me, this is alarming. Or should it be? Is it okay to live in the status quo; to generally accept things for what they are without question; and to rarely ask why? If this is your culture, go for it I suppose. After all, ignorance is bliss.

And besides, asking why can be a dangerous action. While a "why" is generally followed by a "because," a because can lead to another "why" and infinite "whys" thereafter. Oh what a slippery slope a "why" can be.

But, I can't help but think that we all have free will and the ability to form and defend opinions for a reason. After all, why would we all be so different if we weren't meant to learn from these differences by asking questions? Why would we live in such a varied and dynamic world if we weren't supposed to explore it and learn from it and question it? It just seems to me that we were created to ask why. So why not?

Maybe some people never read Curious George when they were kids. (after all, everything we need to know, we learned in kindergarten) Maybe others are taking Nike's "Just do it" campaign a little too seriously. Or maybe it isn't that people are afraid of asking why; it is that they are afraid of the answers they might get.

Now there's an interesting thought to chew on.

Regardless of the reason, I still think that asking why is important, if not necessary. Particularly for those of us in democratic nations, isn't it our duty as citizens to ask why?

I just really can't wrap my head around this one.