The questions we really want answering

Let’s face it, if someone asks a question we instinctively want to know the answer. It is unsatisfying to leave it hanging. On some level, there’s a psychological need for resolution or fulfilment. Hence, I’d suggest, our frustration with Prime Minister’s Questions and political interviews. The one thing you can be sure of is that the question, as asked, will very rarely be answered.

What is it that keeps you awake at night? The big question of Life, the Universe and Everything? (The answer, as we know, is 42.) What is the Mona Lisa thinking? Do Hadron Colliders come in sizes other than large? What would inside-out milk look like? Why can’t people find their wallet or purse at the supermarket checkout? Can you house-train an armadillo? When did you first not read Finnegan’s Wake?

A classic and recently re-broadcast episode of I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue featured a round of new quiz games and formats. The questions were wonderfully absurd, such as: What’s the first letter of the word Aardvark? Is it A, B, C or D? How many legs have donkeys? Your target is Toad In The Hole. And also profoundly existential – in the round entitled ‘What happens next?’ there was only one question: what happens next? The answer is… this week’s quiz.

Cheers
Frank