Tell me the Why and Why Not

I often have questions, and they're often very detailed.



I don't just want the answer to the question.

I don't just want the answer to the question you think I should be asking.



I want the answer to the question, the answer to the question you think I should be asking, why you think I should be looking for your answer, and why you think I shouldn't be looking for the answer to the question I asked.



You see, I realize I don't know everything, and I know I will never know the best way to do things. However, I am perfectly willing to read any and every piece of reference material I can get my hands on if it will lead me to understand the why and the why not of the choices that I need to make. With the understanding of the underlying reasons, I can apply that understanding inductively to other problems with superficially similar structure. I can learn more not just about how the thing it self is alike and different from something else, but I can learn more about how its structure and basis for existence is alike and different from that of something else.



Understanding where things stand is one thing, understanding why things stand is another, but taking those and getting things closer to where they can be is everything.