Dr. Hossam Badrawi Official Website
The Curiosity of Grandchildren and the Dilemma of Grandparents
By Hossam Badrawi
I was contemplating conducting a study on 500 Egyptian children to understand their most frequent questions to parents and teachers—questions that we often avoid answering. Sometimes, this is due to our lack of knowledge, our belief that the topic is inappropriate for their age, embarrassment, ignorance, or even because we are still searching for the answers ourselves.
However, I found numerous studies and books that had already posed my question and compiled children’s inquiries. Others had thought about this before me. An idea only lives if it is documented or applied.
Curiosity is one of the fundamental traits of the human mind, and we must nurture it in our children and youth. This drive pushes them to explore the world, not only enriching their knowledge but also stimulating their minds, enhancing their social skills, and strengthening their ability to learn new things. It fosters a love for learning and discovery.
Experts have compiled a list of the most frequently asked questions by children, including:
– How does electricity work? Why is the sky blue? How do birds fly? Where does the wind come from? Why is the sea salty? Why can’t we drink seawater? How big is the world? What are parallel universes? What happens when we die? Where is God? Where do babies come from? How do airplanes fly? Where does rain come from? Why does God create sick or disabled people? Where do we go after death? Why did God take my cat? How did I come out of my mother’s belly? Who created God? … and many more.
Studies indicate that adults respond to children’s questions in different ways, ranked from the least to the most effective:
- Avoiding the question – Responses like “Don’t ask me that,” “You’ll understand when you’re older,” or simply ignoring the question.
- Repeating or rephrasing the question – For example, if a child asks, “Why should I eat vegetables?” the parent replies, “Because you have to eat vegetables.”
- Admitting ignorance – Saying, “That’s a smart question, but I don’t know the answer.”
- Providing a factual answer – Offering a clear and accurate explanation.
- Encouraging the child to seek knowledge from experts – Suggesting they ask a teacher, a relative, or look up information together online.
- Stimulating the child’s own thinking – Asking, “What do you think? Why might this happen?” to encourage exploration and reasoning.
The truth is that children will continue seeking answers, possibly encountering misleading or harmful information, especially on sensitive topics like religion and sexuality. Ignoring or dismissing their questions can lead to a closed relationship with parents and teachers, making them feel unwelcome to communicate or afraid of ridicule and rejection.
Curiosity and imagination are the roots of creativity and innovation, the seeds of progress and civilization. We must encourage our children to ask questions and prepare ourselves to answer them with knowledge and research—every question has an answer, and we must not deceive them.
One of the toughest questions I encountered was from my granddaughter:
“Grandpa, what does it mean to have a conscience?”
She followed it with a second, third, fourth… and tenth question.
I answered:
“A conscience is a person’s ability to judge themselves according to moral values that have been ingrained in them through experience and life. It tells them what is right and wrong.”
“But conscience is subjective. It differs from person to person. It makes us feel guilty when we realize we’ve done something wrong, either by our own judgment or by how others see us—especially if we are highly sensitive to external opinions. Sometimes, conscience can be overly harsh, exaggerating our mistakes.”
Yet after I said all this, I felt I had complicated things for her.
I thought to myself: Perhaps the essence of religious philosophy throughout history was to establish an absolute moral conscience based on divine standards, preventing morality from being purely subjective. A foundational ethical system for societies. But we have turned religion into a ritualistic practice rather than focusing on its core values.
Victor Hugo once said, “Conscience is the voice of God within man.”
In Les Misérables, he also wrote: “Conscience is the arena where desires and experiences clash, a cavern of thoughts that awaken in us feelings of shame or disgrace.”
Socrates similarly stated: “Just as the law prevents people from committing crimes, conscience prevents them from doing evil.”
Morality shifts over time with cultural changes, but some universal values transcend generations, guiding a healthy conscience toward self-satisfaction or guilt.
When I told my daughter about her child’s question and my struggle to explain, she responded with her own:
“Do all living beings have a conscience, or is it unique to humans?”
I replied:
“That’s a question I can’t answer. Philosophers debate the nature of consciousness and conscience. Some argue that animals have awareness and souls, while others disagree. If they do, do they have an afterlife and moral accountability? Or are they merely programmed by their genetics to act as they do, without self-awareness?”
My granddaughter’s question, my daughter’s question, and my own reflections on life and those around me inspired me to write this article.
A conscience can be too lenient or too harsh—it can either be passive and dormant or overly critical.
I asked my AI assistant for a wise way to explain conscience to my granddaughter. It suggested:
“Conscience is a quiet voice that tells you what is right, even when everyone else tries to convince you otherwise.”
It further advised:
“You can explain it in a way she can relate to:
‘Imagine you have a compass inside your heart. This compass is called conscience. When you need to make a decision—like telling the truth or helping a friend—it whispers the right choice. Sometimes, others might try to convince you to do something wrong, but your conscience always points you toward the right path, just like stars guide travelers at night.’”
My granddaughter then asked, “What is a compass, Grandpa?”
I explained:
“Imagine you’re in a desert or a forest and don’t know the way home. A compass is a small tool with a needle that always points north. Once you know where north is, you can find your way. It helps people navigate even without maps or road signs.
Similarly, every human has an internal compass, but instead of iron or magnets, it’s in their heart and mind—this is called conscience. It helps us know right from wrong, even when making difficult choices.”
AI then added:
“You’re very close to explaining it well. But you might take one more step:
Ask her:
‘What if a strong magnet interferes with the compass? Will it still work correctly?’
When she answers ‘No,’ you can explain:
‘That’s what happens to our conscience sometimes. Fear, societal pressure, or upbringing can distort its accuracy. So, we must always reflect and ensure our moral compass is pointing the right way.’”
This approach will help her understand that conscience isn’t just something we have—it needs care and reflection, just like any other tool.
