The Four Questions

I remember learning that a sound philosophy must answer four basic questions:

- Why am I here? (Metaphysics)

- How do you know? (Epistemology)

- What is good? (Ethics and Morality)

- Where am I headed? (Destiny)

I was reminded of these four questions when watching Simon Sinek's TED Talk: http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action.html

Sinek points out that the most important question to answer is the questions of "Why?".  He goes on explaining that many times people mention what they are trying to do and how they will achieve it but fail to answer why they do it.  He makes his point mentioning that people get it only when you explain why you are doing it.

I performed a very simple experiment on my 3-year-old recently.  He does not like brushing his teeth.  Normally I would tell him what to do ("It's time to brush your teeth~") and how to do it ("Come here David~.  I'll help you brush your teeth~.  I'll make sure it doesn't hurt~").  However, I was never clear why he had to brush.  The only explanation to why he should brush was the word cavity, which did not have much meaning to him.  He would run away saying "I don't like brushing".

After seeing Sinek's TED talk, I showed my 3-year-old an image of what cavity looks like, told him how cavity hurts, and how brushing prevents cavity by washing away the little tiny bugs that make the teeth go black: the reason why we brush our teeth.  My son opened his mouth immediately, willingly, as wide as he could.  

He wants to brush his teeth ever since.