“All right,” said the computer, and settled into silence again. The two men fidgeted. The tension was unbearable.
from The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, Douglas Adams
“You’re really not going to like it,” observed Deep Thought.
“Tell us!”
“All right,” said Deep Thought. “The Answer to the Great Question…”
“Yes..!”
“Of Life, the Universe and Everything…” said Deep Thought.
“Yes…!”
“Is…” said Deep Thought, and paused.
“Yes…!”
“Is…”
“Yes…!!!…?”
“Forty-two,” said Deep Thought, with infinite majesty and calm.
[…]
“Forty-two!” yelled Loonquawl. “Is that all you’ve got to show for seven and a half million years’ work?”
“I checked it very thoroughly,” said the computer, “and that quite definitely is the answer. I think the problem, to be quite honest with you, is that you’ve never actually known what the question is.”
The answer, it seems, is the easy part. The hard part is how you get to that answer.
The answer is, prioritize more musicality in performance. The answer is, set aside more time to read great literature. The answer is, prioritize friends and family. The answer is, money isn’t the answer. The answer is, diet and exercise.
It’s easy to come up with the right answer. The hard part is the question. How do I get there? How do I solve every day challenges so that the right answer comes out at the other side?
In general, I think we should spend less time giving advice and more time teaching how to follow it. Less time for people with all the right answers and more time for people who ask the right questions. Less reward for the right answer in class and more reward for the right question.