Photo Credits: Evan Brooks
Imagine this; you are face-to-face with someone or something all knowing, and you are allowed one question. One question may be asked about the universe, life and everything there ever is or ever will be. But, there just so happens to be a catch, or more of a rule that must be followed: your question can be no more than one word… a one-word question. Now, upon thinking about this, you quickly realize that the best way to get the most out of your question is to choose one of the following words: where, when, who, how, what or why?
Right off the bat, you can eliminate where, because one can either guess the location of all of existence, or realize it is not as important as the other questions. Where? The center of everything probably. Next is when? Time is relative anyway, so not the best choice either. Who? I feel that can also be eliminated because the answer is probably one of the major religions or nothing, either way one can guess.
Now it gets harder to choose. How, perhaps? Again, maybe one of the religions or science is correct, or possibly it is a giant mish-mash of ideas. No matter what, one can probably guess, or see that it is not the most important option. So thereSo, there are two options left then: what or why? The more I thought about it, the more I realized that asking what, is much like asking who? What you might ask? Well, it may be a simulation, a will of an omniscient being or perhaps something, again, science could explain eventually. All of this leads to the best option in terms of which one word you should ask in this circumstance: why?
Why? This one-word question encompasses the most important possible answers one could receive, in my view. The question answers our existence through understanding our purpose, and elaborates on the very reality we live in. Why? Because.
Evan Brooks is a fourth-year Business Management major with minors in Economics and Civic and Professional Leadership EB916132@wcupa.edu.