Why Can't You Master the "Power to Ask Questions" Despite Using AI and Google Search?

I've been thinking about something lately.

Everywhere you look, people say, "The power to ask questions is important." It's in business books, and bosses say it too: "People who can ask good questions do good work."

I generally agree with that.

Then I thought about it. I use Google Search every day, and I'm constantly asking ChatGPT questions. I'm typing "questions" into search boxes and chat windows all the time. Isn't that the act of "asking questions" itself?

And yet, I have absolutely no sense that my ability to ask questions is improving.

In fact, I feel like the more I look things up, the less I'm able to think for myself.

...So, I've organized my thoughts on why our ability to ask questions doesn't improve despite constantly querying search engines and AI. To put it simply, the "queries" we throw at search engines and AI are structurally different from true "questions."

There Are Actually 7 Steps to "Asking a Question"

1. Awareness/Discomfort The feeling of "Huh?" "Something's off," or "I'm uneasy." Everything starts here.
2. Identifying the Target What is the true nature of that unease? Identifying exactly "what" is bothering you.
3. Confirming Assumptions What do I know and what do I not know about this matter? Drawing the boundaries of your knowledge.
4. Verbalizing the Question Putting "what I really want to know" into words in a solvable state.
5. Formulating a Hypothesis Imagining a potential direction for the answer: "It's probably something like this."
6. Verification/Exploration Checking the hypothesis by reading books, searching, or asking people.
7. Updating the Question Based on the answer obtained, deepening or broadening the inquiry: "So, what's next?"

People Who Search Immediately Only Perform 2 Out of 7 Steps

• People who immediately throw questions at search engines or AI jump straight from step ① to step ⑥. The moment they think "I'm curious about something" in step ①, they open the search box and their fingers start moving. Steps ② through ⑤ are skipped entirely.

• The "expressway" from "feeling uneasy" to "asking for now" has become too well-maintained.
• Furthermore, step ⑦ is often skipped. The moment an answer comes back, a sense of satisfaction ("It's solved!") is achieved, and no new questions are born from it.
• In other words, it ends at ① → ⑥. You're only doing two steps of what should be a seven-step process. There's no way to build the "power to ask questions" this way.

For Example...

Suppose you are considering "whether to change jobs."

For someone who searches immediately:

• Work has been boring lately. The words "job change" cross their mind, and they Google "should I change jobs diagnosis." They match five items on a recruitment site's checklist and think, "I guess I should change jobs..."
• They ask ChatGPT, "Recommended job changes for 30s salary increase," learn that the IT industry seems good, register on a job site for no particular reason, and then leave it at that.

For someone who asks questions properly:

• ② Identifying the Target: Wait. "Boring"—what exactly is boring? The work content? Relationships? Salary? They realize the work itself isn't bad, but the sense of stagnation—"Is this it for the rest of my life?"—is what's painful.
• ③ Confirming Assumptions: Is there a possibility of internal transfer? Has anyone changed careers within the company? They realize they don't actually know. They also realize they've never verbalized what "growth" means to them.
• ④ Verbalizing the Question: From "Should I change jobs?" to "Is the stagnation I'm feeling something that cannot be resolved without changing my environment?" This is defined as the question that truly needs answering.
• ⑤ Hypothesis: The stagnation is likely caused by "not learning new things." It might be resolvable through a side job or a different internal project without quitting. Conversely, if they change jobs to the same position, wouldn't they feel the same way in six months?
• ⑥ Only now do they search. Because they have a hypothesis, they can filter the information that comes back.
• ⑦ Updating the Question: "Maybe I should try volunteering for a new internal project first, and if that doesn't change things, then seriously consider a job change?" "Wait, have I ever actually told my boss my career aspirations?" New questions are born.

Starting from the same point of "interested in a job change," they arrive at completely different destinations.

Why Do We Skip Steps ② to ⑤?

• Reason 1: Because "struggling time" is uncomfortable. Steps ② to ⑤ are essentially time spent using your brain in a state where there is no answer. Facing "what I don't understand" is inherently uncomfortable, and forming a hypothesis that might be wrong is scary. Search and AI resolve this discomfort instantly, so we reflexively reach for them. The tools are so convenient that the opportunity to train the "endurance for the discomfort of thinking" is being taken away.
• Reason 2: Because something comes back even if you don't examine the "quality of the question." If you type "what should I do about a job change," you'll get some kind of result. While a human might push back and say, "Can you be more specific?", a machine answers silently. Therefore, the muscle for refining questions isn't trained.
• Reason 3: Because we mistake "getting an answer" for "solving the problem." The moment we read a response, the brain receives a reward for "obtaining information" and is satisfied with an "I see." Step ⑦, "Updating the Question," doesn't happen, and intellectual curiosity turns into mere knowledge consumption.

So, How Do You Use Generative AI and Google Search While Using Your Brain?

It becomes important to properly follow steps ② to ⑤ in the following diagram.

• Search and AI are extremely useful when used as tools for step ⑥ (Verification/Exploration). The speed and accuracy of step ⑥ will skyrocket. The problem lies in using them immediately after step ① when they are meant for step ⑥.
• First, when you feel unease, think for just 3 minutes with your own head. Write down in a notepad: "What am I stuck on?" "What do I not understand?" "It's probably like this."
• Search after forming a hypothesis. Search with the stance of "I think it's probably X, but am I right?"
• When an answer comes back, ask yourself, "So, what's the next thing I'm curious about?" Don't stop there; update the question.
• If you ask ChatGPT after going through steps ② to ⑤, the quality of the AI's response will also improve. Instead of "what should I do about a job change," asking "I want to distinguish whether the cause of my stagnation is the environment or my mindset. My hypothesis is that it's a lack of learning opportunities, but what other possibilities are there?" will yield an overwhelmingly more useful answer.
• It's obvious. If the resolution of the question is high, the resolution of the answer will be high.
• As AI becomes more prevalent, the gap between those who can do steps ② to ⑤ in their own heads and those who cannot will widen.
• The power to ask questions is not nurtured by "not using convenient tools." I believe it is nurtured by "not begrudging the 3 minutes before using convenient tools."

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