Today, March 14, is “Question Day 2014,” in honor of that master questioner Albert Einstein, who was born on this date, 135 years ago. Einstein is known for his curiosity and passion for questioning. He told us, “The important thing is not to stop questioning” and urged us to “Question everything” and “Never lose a holy curiosity.”
I happen to be very interested in questioning myself. My book, A More Beautiful Question, is all about the surprising power of questioning to transform our lives and spark big breakthroughs. The book was published last week by Bloomsbury and now, of course, I’m in full promotion mode. And that’s why I couldn’t just let Einstein’s birthday pass by without marking it.
An official Einstein’s birthday / Question Day connection was made in 2008 when National Question Day was declared by an entity called the Inquiry Institute. This year, in partnership with the nonprofit Right Question Institute (which teaches kids in schools across the country how to ask better questions), we’re sponsoring a day of celebrating questioning, via social media and the QuestionDay2014.com website. There’s lots of interesting info, links, and videos on that microsite—take a moment to check it out.
Why questions matter
We’re inviting you to go on Twitter*, LinkedIn, and Facebook and share a thought about the importance of questioning, or a famous quote (you can find plenty of them here; feel free to borrow one and tweet it). Or, better yet, share your own question with the world: Is there a “Why…” “What if…” or “How might we…” question that’s particularly meaningful to you? If you like to share listicles, here’s a link to a funny gif-laden “12 Questions That Changed Everything (and 1 Statement That Will)” in Buzzfeed (http://bzfd.it/1ia3l91). And to find out what happens when Benedict Cumberbatch and Kanye West (among others) release their inner Einstein, visit the QuestionDay2014.com site or click on the “Einstein Fusion” Slideshare link below.
Albert Einstein’s “beautiful question” as a teenager
Or you can just say, “Hooray, it’s Question Day!”
The sponsors of this event think it’s worthwhile to try to increase awareness and appreciation of questioning. Questions enable us to learn and understand; they often spark new ideas; and they tend to be the starting point of innovation (and a good starting point of conversation, as well).
So to all the readers of Kevin’s amazing My Media Diary, I invite you to take part in the conversation on questioning this Friday. Thanks for helping us spread the word about the importance of questioning, and about why we should never lose what Einstein called our “holy curiosity.”
*Tweets:
You can simply retweet my tweets at @GlimmerGuy or here are some sample tweets:
Celebrating Einstein’s birthday as #QuestionDay2014. Let’s ask more & better questions. http://QuestionDay2014.com
“The important thing is not to stop questioning.” Einstein’s birthday is today. http://QuestionDay2014.com #QuestionDay2014
Hashtag: #QuestionDay2014
P.S. If you’re member of Goodreads.com, they’re doing a weeklong book giveaway of A More Beautiful Question starting March 14.
