Q
The Hidden Power of Questions in a World That Wants Answers
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- Pre-Order
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- Expected Aug 4, 2026
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
“Q is one of those rare books that hands you back a capability you didn't realize you'd lost.” —Daniel H. Pink, New York Times bestselling author of The Power of Regret
A transformative and philosophical investigation into how we ask questions, full of practical advice on how we can harness the power of questions for ourselves
We live in a world that wants answers. Answers provide solutions to our problems, teach us about the world, and help us navigate our lives. But we rush toward answers forgetting, that it is questions that set the course.
Questions are a form of power, as well as a vital, everyday tool. After all, if you don’t ask the right questions, you won’t get the right answers. In Q, philosopher Lani Watson examines the history of question-asking, analyzes our answer-oriented present, and offers a path forward toward a question-oriented future. Along the way, she asks us to consider what a question is, why we ask the questions we do, when we first start asking questions, and where we want our questions to take us.
The shift from prioritizing answers to focusing on questions is not easy, and it requires careful attention and practice. Q also includes practical tips called Q Tools, inspired by the historical, philosophical, and cultural material of each chapter that offer readers exercises and advice for becoming better question-askers. There are real-world benefits to creating a question-oriented future, and it will require a personal, social, political, philosophical and technological transition. In Q, Lani Watson provides us with the knowledge and tools that we need to implement this change in our own lives and communities.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Philosopher Wilson asserts in her fascinating debut that questions are central to everything from interpersonal bonds to the health of society. She traces the questioning instinct to 450 million ago, when an explosion of biodiversity gave rise to a "range of novel behaviors" like exploratory information seeking. This automatic behavior "made the leap... to questioning proper" around 230 million to 270 million years later, when advances in cognition allowed animals to "intentionally direct their own attention and... seek information in an autonomous way." Posing a question sets off a dopamine spike in the human brain's reward system; the more curiosity provoking the question, the more actively the brain responds. Children are indefatigable questioners—one study showed that young children ask on average 107 questions per hour in conversation with adults—but the habit drops off when kids enter school, where success is measured in answers. This is a pity, Wilson argues, since questions promote imagination, learning, and novel solutions, along with enhancing interpersonal relationships. Wilson wisely advocates for a shift from today's answer-driven society to one where curiosity "outweighs our fear of the unfamiliar and unknown," and shares tips for cultivating a "questioning mindset" by, for example, noticing a new detail in a familiar view. Energetic and insightful, this will inspire readers to take a fresh look at the world around them.
