Michael Lissack
What if the way we understand knowledge is fundamentally backward? In Questioning Understanding: Understanding Questioning, philosopher-scientist Michael Lissack presents a revolutionary approach to how we know what we know. Lissack reveals how our questions shape what we can understand, while our understanding determines what questions we can even conceive. This isn’t just another philosophy book-it’s two books in one, designed in the innovative tête-bêche format (readable from both ends). Side A explores how questioning drives understanding, while Side B reveals how our existing understanding shapes the questions we can even imagine. This unique physical structure embodies the book’s core insight: knowledge develops through continuous spirals, not linear progression. The physical act of flipping between perspectives mirrors the mental flexibility required for true intellectual growth.Drawing from complexity science, cognitive theory, and hermeneutics, Lissack-former president of the American Society for Cybernetics-challenges traditional epistemology. He introduces powerful concepts like 'fundierung' (how meanings layer upon each other), cognitive constraints that paradoxically enable understanding, and the practical necessity of 'as if' thinking in an uncertain world.Perfect for philosophers, scientists, educators, and anyone grappling with decision-making under uncertainty, this book offers both theoretical depth and practical applications. Through compelling case studies from climate research to healthcare innovation, readers discover how to cultivate more sophisticated questioning practices and develop understanding robust enough for action yet flexible enough for growth. Transform how you think about thinking. Sometimes the answer isn’t the answer-it’s a better question.In our era of information overload and epistemological crisis, Questioning Understanding provides essential tools for navigating complexity. Experience the dialectic of knowledge firsthand-pick up this book, choose your starting point, and transform how you think about thinking itself.
