Topic #1: No Soup for You!

In keeping with our running theme so far this year, I thought this introductory blogging experience should relate to questions. You all had a chance to ask me questions -- the vast majority of which were non-soup questions, or questions that failed to gain you information important to you personally -- and you have answered, in writing, my question about who you are.

So let's keep it going.

One of the most common internet experiences is the internet quiz, or questionnaire. Entire sites are devoted to the creation and administration of quizzes that claim to answer for you the burning question of Which Muppet Are You Most Like? or What Is Your O.C. I.Q.?, (Wow, how often do you see those three punctuation marks right in a row?) or How Many Kindergartners Could You Take In A Fight?

Twenty-five, if you're wondering. According to the quiz, that is -- I have never verified it.

But as silly as those quizzes are, they're still fun. And the questionnaires -- those lists of questions, usually fifty in number, that you have to copy and paste, answer, and then spread like a chain letter -- are repetitive, but still give interesting information about the people who show you their answers.

I am suggesting that we make a class questionnaire: a better one than what we've all seen in e-mails and on social networking sites. Each of us will contribute one question. It should be a non-soup question, but it should be a question you would like answered; and there should be a rationale or at least a reason why you chose to contribute that particular question. Your post should present your question and explain your choice -- you don't need to give your answer to your own question. Not yet, at least.

Mr. H's Post:
Conceiving this blog got me thinking: what are my favorite questions? My favorite question to ask, when I expect an answer, is: "Why?" I feel it is the most important piece of information in any exchange, because it gives one insight into another's mindset, and intentions; I think the way people think is fascinating, and so it is what I always want to know. But it only works when there is a conversation prior to it; if I walked up to random people on the street and asked, "Why?" I would not get a good answer. My favorite question to ask when I don't expect or care for an answer is either "Who put the bop in the bop-shu-bop-shu-bop?" or "Who put the ram in the ram-a-lam-a-ding-dong?" I enjoy the response I get, which is usually little more than a blank look. My favorite question to answer is "How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?" This is my favorite because I know the answer: about 700 pounds.

I think the best question to ask of people, without any prior context to give it relevance, is this:
What is the single most important truth that you know?
I like this question because it forces the respondent to consider and eliminate different possibilities before answering, which means there is less chance that I will get an answer that is too easy or oversimplified. People don't generally want to give a joke answer because people do know important truths, and they are generally things we want to share with others -- they're important, after all! -- but are uncomfortable sharing unasked. The answer, when honest, gives quite a good insight into the respondent -- it often reveals religious convictions, or lack thereof; or philosophical conclusions, or goals and ideals. It shows the person's main lens through which he or she views the world, which I consider the most important piece of information one can get about another. What I mean is: I am a literature guy, a word guy, so I think of things in terms of words; I want to hear what people said when they did this or that, and I want to read their explanation of why. If I was more of an action person, I might want to just get out there and do things myself -- and so on. That's my lens, and it tells a lot about me. But the best thing about my question is this: it asks for these very difficult and important and personal opinions in a way that most people can understand, and respond to.

That's my contribution: what is the single most important truth you know?

Your turn.