I want to examine some ideas around the fundamental concept
of question and answer.
The difficult issues of life revolve around finding answers
to questions. It is often the case that finding the right question is the hard
part, but giving the right answer is obviously important.
The question is – what is the right answer? I have concluded
that the right answer depends on who is asking the question, and what action
they are going to take after receiving the answer. If the receiver does nothing
with the answer, then it does not matter what the answer is.
Note that I am introducing the concept of a process involving
the questioner, the question and the agent who gives the answer. The receiver
is normally also the questioner, but I suppose a more general description would
include a three party situation. The receiver takes the answer and either takes
some action as a result, or uses the answer to modify his world model.
I may elaborate on this part of the process, but what I want
to concentrate on now is the concept of matching.
Matching arises in many environments; I think I first came across it when
connecting loudspeakers or earphones to an audio amplifier. The amplifier
output has an internal impedance (roughly the same as a resistance), and the
connected device (e.g. loudspeaker) also has an impedance. For optimum
performance, the impedances should match, i.e. they should be the same. Optimum
performance here means that the energy transfer is maximised. Of course exact
matching is seldom necessary, but a gross mismatch is generally undesirable.
This concept applies whenever two systems are coupled
together for the purpose of transferring energy or information. So an internal
combustion engine needs to be matched to the drive train for efficient
operation; this can be done using gears or some other mechanism. It is also the
case that an engine pulling a load needs to be matched so that the capacity of
the engine is sufficient for the load. A similar situation arises if a liquid
is pumped into a container; the flow rate of the pump needs to be matched to
the capacity of the connection. If a person is speaking to another, he needs to
match his speaking rate to the ability of the listener to absorb the
information.
If a computer is receiving data from a server on the
internet, it is desirable that the capacity of the server to deliver data is
matched by the connection bandwidth and the capacity of the computer to receive
data. Note that here I am including the connection channel in the matching,
along with the transmitter and receiver.
So in all these examples, there is an issue of matching
different parts of the system. So it is when a question is asked and answered.
The best answer is one where the system is matched, so the answer matches the
needs of the questioner. Note that these needs may include the speed and cost
of the answer, not just the accuracy of the answer to the questioner. Indeed,
the speed and cost are part of the total effect on the questioning part of the
system.
So to conclude, there is no such thing in general as the
perfect answer to a question. The best answer is one where the needs of the
questioner are matched to the answer.
