HN Explorer

Your startup idea. Why?

9 points by jkush ↗ HN
I've recently discovered the value of having a recursive (and very honest) conversation with myself. I ask "why?" to big statements and assumptions. I find that eventually I end up somewhere interesting. Is there a psychoanalytical term for this?

Here's an example of a real conversation I had with my daughter a few hours ago:

My 2 year old daughter asked why my SCUBA gear was in the guest room shower. I explained that it was there because my gear needed to dry out. She thought for a moment, then asked: "Why? Why is your gear wet?"

I explained that my gear was wet because I had gone SCUBA diving. After thinking a little bit more, she asked, "Why? Why did you go SCUBA diving?"

I explained to her that I was taking SCUBA diving lessons. She then wanted to know why I'm taking SCUBA diving lessons of course. So I explained that I was taking lessons so I could learn how to SCUBA dive. She let the matter drop then, but I kept thinking about it.

So why do I want to learn how to SCUBA dive?

I want to learn how to SCUBA dive because it's something that I've always wanted to do.

Why? Because I think what's underneath the water is fascinating and SCUBA diving seems like a good way to explore.

Why? Well, I can't hold my breath for very long so if I know how to SCUBA dive I can stay down longer and learn more about what's under the water.

Why? Because there's something so cool about floating under the water and exploring the environment.

Why? Because it's the closest I'm ever going to get to space travel.

Asking "why?" recursively helped me nail what it was about SCUBA diving that has interested me for so long. Strange as it may seem, I've been subconciously associating SCUBA diving with something like space exploration. Floating around? Check. Alien environment? Check. Dangerous? Check.

Being an astronaut, space travel, all of that stuff was the kind of thing that had me daydreaming for hours as a kid. I would have never guessed that my desire to SCUBA dive had anything to do with space travel.

So what's your big idea? Why?

12 comments

[ 3.0 ms ] story [ 28.9 ms ] thread
adrianwaj
Next time ask your daughter, "why do you keep asking why?" It all comes down to pleasure.
diamondtearz
But then my son's answer when I ask why to anything... "Because I do" or "Because it is".
diamondtearz
Wow!! I'm impressed! I have a three year old and after the 4th or 5th recursion I would run out of answers and just turn on Shark Tales!

The why question makes my head hurt!

dyu
There is also the problem of which part of the previous statement the 'why' is for. You can construct different kinds of questions and you can only choose to answer the ones that are easy. So unless the 'why' is a complete question, there is a bit of ambiguity here.
jkush
I see your point. That's why giving honest answers to "why?" is crucial.

german
So basically your SCUBA gear was in the guest room shower because it's the closest you are ever going to get to space travel!

Just kidding, I've practiced SCUBA diving, its a hole new world down there =)

jkush
You got it! It's weird when you say it like that, but essentially it's true.
staunch
A DIALOGUE WITH SARAH, AGED 3: IN WHICH IT IS SHOWN THAT IF YOUR DAD IS A CHEMISTRY PROFESSOR, ASKING "WHY" CAN BE DANGEROUS By Stephen McNeil

http://www.scq.ubc.ca/?p=657

whacked_new
I totally love that article. Toddlers who ask questions are awesome; I don't even know if I asked so many questions when I was that age.

That the daughter had such a dad is also really cool.

What many parents don't realize is that kids have good BS detectors and inconsistency is bad influence on their reasoning. And answers like "just because" are among the worst.

joshwa
This is a principle in the Toyota Production System as well-- in performing any problem analysis, you are to ask "Why?" 5 times to get to the root cause of the issue you are facing.

If you want to get more structured about it, you can do a fishbone/ishikawa diagram, where there are specific categories of "why"s to check against: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishikawa_diagram

jkush
Thanks so much joshwa. I knew there had to be a formal description for this process.