Continuing the theme of alternative meanings for the abbreviation FAQ, another alternative that springs to mind is Frequently 'Avoided' Questions. What questions, when we find ourselves getting near to them, do we find ourselves immediately avoiding? From which questions do we veer away?
There may be questions we consciously avoid. In that case, those questions may be easy to spot. We should be honest and ask ourselves what prevents us from going any further into such a question. When we are studying the human body, there are many questions that propriety forbids us from asking. These need careful consideration. We do not want to miss out on learning something interesting or important simply because of social mores.
There are also questions that we avoid unconsciously. In that case, they will be less easy to recognise, but they may be the most telling questions. Not because of the answer we do not get from asking them, but from why they are avoided—albeit unconsciously. Are these also the products of social mores?
Where do these unconsciously avoided questions reside? In which corner of our thinking? Are there corners of our minds where reside questions we would like to ask, but cannot?
Do we imbibe, from our respective academic disciplines, ways of negotiating routes to and through knowledge? Routes that stick to certain pathways while carefully avoiding others? To wander off the path into some areas may be to violate the parameters of one’s chosen discipline. Is that so bad? We are usually reluctant to venture into areas one’s colleagues frown upon if they knew. And then there are the types of question that society compels us not to ask. When these are legitimate questions, we should perhaps be worried when they go unasked.
As an undergraduate, I heard of a student soirée that quickly broke up after somebody asked a question deemed ‘inappropriate’ (even for the 1970s). When asked, those present would not discuss the matter. It was quite some time before somebody divulged the question to me. It is not necessary to further divulge it here but suffice it to say that it was not the sort of question one usually expects in gentile company. However, I did wonder what the answer might be! And, with all good questions and ideas, one is left asking, ‘Why didn’t I think of that?’ Even if it is impolite to ask certain questions of others, that does not stop one asking it silently.
