Good Question

Teachers always like to reassure us that "there are no bad (stupid, dumb, wrong) questions". While this is certainly true in the context of achieving basic understanding for an individual, there is no doubt that when one is engaging in dialogue or research, some questions are better than others.

One of my recurring frustrations, and I can only assume this applies to others, is that often times my questions are easily answered and reflect a somewhat shallow understanding of the topic. As a student, this is more or less my job. However, when another student, the professor, or occasionally myself, ask a good question, the conversation is brought into an entirely new light that serves to illuminate previously overlooked connections and show a more realistic picture of the situation. As I find myself dealing with increasingly complex issues both in and out of class, the ability to have this broader comprehension is, I think, incredibly useful.

So, what exactly is a good question? Where do they come from, what do they consist of, who asks them, and how can I (and maybe you) get better at building them?

The basics of question asking have grown into an area of expertise, which today we call journalism. The foundations of journalism center around these key words:
Who
What
When
Why
Where
How

The most important feature of these words is that they cannot be answered with a simple "yes" or "no". They also tell a story. If one of these key questions goes unanswered, then you are missing something.

This is an excellent place to start. From these basic ideas, we can build our questions with the other pieces of a good question to create something helpful and worth pursuing.

I've been doing some informal polling of friends, family and teachers and have come up with this outline for what a good question contains:

One of the hallmarks of a good question is that it shows a wide grasp of the context that has already been established. Incorporate as much as you know and can possibly extrapolate about certain relationships into your question. This is a good way to develop questions with multiple parts, for example, "If A and B presumably lead to C, then what does that mean for D?". If your assumption regarding A and B ends up being incorrect, correcting it will only help you to gain a deeper understanding of what you're dealing with.

It was also suggested to me that a good question should anticipate its answer. This surprised me slightly, but when I thought about it, it made sense. Often times, particularly in science, we hypothesize about what a result should look like, given certain parameters. If results vary drastically from the predicted model, then the model and perhaps its underlying assumptions need to be reexamined. Hypotheses stem directly from research questions, and so applying the same kind of predictive reasoning to all questions could definitely prove useful.

Another component of a good question should be its adaptability. Because it will not be able to be answered in simple "yes" or "no" terms, it will also be open to interpretation from a variety of viewpoints. Having a somewhat open ended quality will allow, not only for a variety of rich and complex answers, but also for the question to be applied in other contexts as well.

Finally, everyone I asked agreed that a good question should be clear, concise, and require an answer that contains at least as much thoughtfulness as the question itself.

Basically, what all of this hyperbole boils down to is that good questions are asked by people who have a solid grasp of the topic. This provides them with a solid foundation on which to build complex questions which demand enlightening answers.

So thus, the simple question, "How can I ask good questions?" is provided the simple answer,
"Be a good listener."

Bagels!!

Basic Pizza Crust

Flour (1.5c)

Warm water (3/4c)

Salt (1tsp)

Oil (1/4c)

Yeast (1 tsp)

Baking powder (1tsp)

Preheat oven to 475

(I just guessed the measurements for a personal pizza, multiply by how many you need to feed, but if it's more than two, divide the dough up to make multiple pizzas.)

I don't even measure for this recipe any more. I just pour as much flour as I think I'll need into a bowl and push the flour to the edges of the bowl so I have a flour bowl. Then I fill it half with warm water, add the oil and sprinkle in some salt, yeast and baking powder. Mix it up, then let sit ( or not if you're hungry! ). I just let it sit as long as it takes to prep my toppings ( I'll post an easy pizza sauce recipe some time). Knead the dough and incorporate more flour until it's not sticky and then roll it out. This makes a great thin or think crust, so roll it to where you like it. Add whatever deliciousness you want and cook for 15-20min or until the edges are toasty. 

Enjoy!

Tarbell/Silver Star Area Trail Report 9/28/14

Spent my Sunday running around in the hills. Started from The Tarbell/Chinook intersection. There's no official trailhead, just a small pull out if you know where to look. The road through there must be a fairly new extension of L1180, since its not on the DNR map past Kloochman Butte, or designated as an official DNR road by Google maps. If you switch to satellite view, you'll be able to see it. I haven't had a chance to follow it all the way to see if it meets with any other roads, but it sure is a handy way to get to the north end of Silver Star without having to do the first four miles of Tarbell. 

The climb up Chinook was breath-taking as always, (physically and spiritually), with the classic fog-in-the-valley-sun-on-the-mountain morning of a PNW summer. Only saw one other group the whole day, coming up from Grouse Vista.

 I was really glad I decided to take the loop clock-wise. I had always assumed that coming down Chinook would be far more ankle-friendly than coming down the rock slide that is Grouse Vista. After running mp 10.5-4 of Tarbell for the first time, however, I can officially say that clockwise is the better idea, since climbing up from Hidden Falls to Grouse Vista would be a sun exposed death march. There is extensive clear cutting in some very steep areas particularly around mp 7. A little bit of trail intuition is needed to flow through some of the road intersections.

 I'm happy to have another section of Tarbell under my feet. All that's left now is Larch-Rock Creek. I'm also glad to have finally stepped up to a challenging route that has been eluding me, for various reasons, for quite some time now. 

Red = Total milage ~ 12.5 (map) but it felt a lot longer. My GPS watch had a low battery, so I'll verify next time. Would also be nice to compare accuracy with the Tarbell mileposts.

Black = rough guess of where the new section of road goes.