Just google it.

Assalamualaikum.

This happened to me countless of times, and I think it happens to a lot of people as well.

Have you ever asked a question to someone, and their reply was "Just google it." ? I have. To be frankly honest, I get pissed every time someone tells me to google it.

Maybe it's just one of my pet peeves but I honestly think it's kinda rude to tell someone who's asking you a question to go google something.

Why is it such a big deal to me?

Here's why.

I was born in an environment where my parents (lucky me) encourage curiosity. Well, it was more that I was more curious than my siblings. My parents bought my siblings and I books, encyclopedias, those "Where does the rain come from?" type of books and I loved all of it.

However, while I loved reading and flipping through those books, I loved asking my mom more. No matter how much I asked, if my memory serves me right, she never ignored my questions. She never simply brushed it aside because let's face it, kids have a lot to ask. Where does babies come from? Why is the sky blue? How comes chicks don't hatch from supermarket eggs? What is that? What is this? Some adults, sadly, never really know the importance of answering a child's question. I've read an article somewhere (it was about parenting but let's not ask why I was in a parenting article), that said that most of the teenagers lose their curiosity because they were deprived of answers back when they were a child. Parents would not entertain their children with the questions, some of which are illogical, and some of them are just so mature that adults themselves have never even thought about it.

While I asked these questions, and some were pretty hard to answer, my mom, never dismissed it. If she didn't know, she said she didn't know, but she wouldn't leave it at that, she would ask me have I looked through the books for the answers, and sometimes she would search the answers with me.

I have to admit, sometimes I ask her questions I already know the answer to. Why? Because I feel like talking to her, or I want to make a conversation, or I want to discuss the certain topic with her, or simply because I wanted a confirmation. I think my mom knew it, but she entertained anyway.

I have come to a realization as to why I ask so many questions. Of course it was the curiosity, and usually it would be so easy to just google it, but in my humble opinion, we ask questions to people (especially technical ones) because we trust them.

We trust that person to have the answer? No, we trust the person with their expertise in that certain field. Doesn't make sense? Let's take a simple example.

I ask you what time it is. In my head, I trust that you have a watch, or a clock, or a cellphone, to know what time it is. Granted, it isn't the best of example because truth be told, when I ask someone what time it is, it's usually because I'm lazy to take out my own cellphone from my pocket or from my bag. But the main point is that, the "expertise" that I'm talking about, doesn't have to be a really hard subject, it could be as simple as asking when's the next football match. Because that friend, trusts his friend to know when's the next football match because in his head, his friend is a football fan, therefore there's a high chance that the friend would know the date of the next game, right?

The other reason why we ask a question, is because we value their opinion. We value their thoughts especially about a debatable subject. For example, which is better, canon or nikon? It would be absurd to tell me to google the answer because it's a question that demands an opinion, not an answer. It is also important who the question is asked to because if you ask a person which is better, canon or nikon and that person doesn't have a clue about photography then it's pretty useless isn't it? We ask, because we trust and value the person we ask the question to, even if it's just asking the time, or asking who won the basketball game.

So to merely brush a person's question off with a "go google it," is pretty rude, and pretty sure that the person would most likely at least hesitate to ask the next time he/she has a question. If you don't know the answer to that particular question, then how about You google it for a while, and then answer your friend? Wouldn't it be much nicer like that? Not only will your friend think you actually know the answer, but all in all, you are sincere to answer, to provide an answer to your friend, which in the long run, builds trust much more.

Of course, you would know if a person asks you because he is sincerely asking you a question, or just because he's a lazy person. That being said, even if he's lazy, do your best to answer anyway. It doesn't hurt you, nor is it a waste of time since you might as well get new information, so don't brush off people's (and children's especially) questions because whether you realize it or not, repressing or brushing off a question seriously stunt a person's trust as well as their curiosity.

Which is why children who were curious in the first place, when they grow up, they don't question anything around them, because their parents never entertained their questions. Thus, what is the use of youth who don't have a genuine curiosity towards their surroundings? Because questions ultimately catalyzes growth and development.

So when a person asks you a question, be flattered and be honored that the person trusts you with your opinion and your 'expertise'. Think twice before telling someone to google it.

"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing."

-Albert Einstein-

Wallahualam.

Assalamualaikum.