'think of the future as an open question'

From Scientific American:

[Psychologist Ibrahim Senay of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign] measured the volunteers' intentions to start and stick to a fitness regimen. And in this real-world scenario, he got the same basic result: those primed with the interrogative phrase "Will I?" expressed a much greater commitment to exercise regularly than did those primed with the declarative phrase "I will."

...those with questioning minds were more intrinsically motivated to change. They were looking for a positive inspiration from within, rather than attempting to hold themselves to a rigid standard. Those asserting will lacked this internal inspiration, which explains in part their weak commitment to future change.

Why Ask Why?

In The Real Secret of Thoroughly Excellent Companies, Peter Bregman writes about the process of asking questions:

During his meeting with the front desk staff, [Michael Newcombe] learned they were slower than usual in checking in guests because rooms weren't available. Then, in his meeting with housekeeping staff, someone asked if the hotel was running low on king size sheets. Most CEOs wouldn't be interested in that question, but Michael asked why. Well, the maid answered, it's taking us longer to turn over rooms because we have to wait for the sheets. So he kept asking questions to different employee groups until he discovered that one of the dryers was broken and waiting for a custom part. That reduced the number of available sheets. Which slowed down housekeeping. Which reduced room availability. Which delayed guests from checking in.

He fixed the problem in 24 hours. A problem he never would have known about without open communication with all his employees.

The process of inquiry (vicara) driven by desire for truth and communal benefit is very powerful. We often become content with superficial explanations and avoid deeper reasoning. The example above demonstrates the effectiveness of such a process. It is comparable, if not identical to, the dialectical (Socratic) methods in philosophy.

Realization of Relative Reality Leads to Self-Inquiry

From the Wikipedia article on the Interpretation of quantum mechanics:

"... the world around us seems to be in a specific state, yet quantum mechanics describes it with wave functions governing the probabilities of values. In general the wave-function assigns non-zero probabilities to all possible values for a given physical quantity, such as position. How then is it that we come to see a particle at a specific position when its wave function is spread across all space? In order to describe how specific outcomes arise from the probabilities, the direct interpretation introduces the concept of measurement. According to the theory, wave functions interact with each other and evolve in time according to the laws of physics until a measurement is performed, at which time the system will take on one of the possible values with probability governed by the wave-function. Measurement can interact with the system state in somewhat peculiar ways..."

According to quantum mechanics, the very act of measuring influences the value that is measured. Replace a few words and you have: "The very act of looking influences what we see."

We see with our eyes which passes images to our brain. Our mind interprets the visual stimulus: "That painting is ugly," or "That girl is cute."

In addition, if we assume that the brain produces the mind, then the instrument itself is a part of this quantum system. Infinite recursion anyone? Anyone?

I hope this idea frustrates and confuses you. I hope you experience doubt about your own thoughts. I hope you ask yourself, repeatedly, "Who am I?" with genuine curiosity.

All scientific, philosophical and theological questions lead to this one simple question. Without pursuing its answer all else is naught.