Questions I am exploring
DraftAn open question is one that is being actively worked on, stated precisely enough that it could in principle be answered, with a record of what is known and what would settle it.
Why keep them separately
Questions get lost. A genuinely interesting uncertainty encountered while reading is forgotten within days unless it is written down, and the ones worth pursuing are rarely the ones that seem urgent at the time.
Keeping them in one place also makes the pattern visible. A collection of open questions clustering around one topic is a signal that the topic is not understood, which is more useful information than any individual question.
Stating a question well
The difference between a useful question and a useless one is almost entirely in the statement.
| Poor | Better |
|---|---|
| How do Hall thrusters work? | That is a topic, not a question. It has an answer in a textbook and belongs in a learning note |
| Is space solar power viable? | Viable against what alternative, at what launch cost, for what application? Unanswerable as stated |
| Why is Starship using stainless steel? | Answerable, and the answer is documented. This is a note, not a question |
| At what launch cost does space-based solar power beat ground solar plus storage for grid supply, given current terrestrial cost trends? | Precise, answerable in principle, and the answer would be informative |
A good question has three properties. It is precise enough that a proposed answer could be judged right or wrong. It is open, meaning the answer is not already recorded somewhere obvious. And it matters, in the sense that knowing the answer would change something.
Structure
| Field | Content |
|---|---|
| Question | One sentence, stated precisely |
| Why it matters | What would change if it were answered |
| What is known | The current state, with sources |
| Where the uncertainty is | Specifically what is not known, rather than a general gesture |
| What would settle it | A calculation, an experiment, a source, or a measurement that does not exist |
| Status | Open, being worked, answered, or abandoned with a reason |
| Last update | Dated |
The what would settle it field is the one that does the work. A question without an identified route to an answer is a musing, and writing the route down frequently reveals either that the answer is easy or that the question was badly posed.
Types of question
The first branch is the most common and the least interesting. Most things that feel like questions are things not yet looked up, and the discipline of trying to answer before recording keeps this list short and useful.
Closing a question
A question closes in one of three ways, and all three should be recorded.
Answered. Write the answer, the evidence, and the date. If it is durable, promote it into a subject section and link back. If it is narrow, leave it here.
Dissolved. The question turned out to be badly posed, resting on a false premise, or a confusion of terms. This is a common and valuable outcome, and recording why it dissolved is more useful than deleting it.
Abandoned. Not worth the effort, or blocked on something unavailable. Record what would unblock it, so that a later encounter with the same question does not start from nothing.
An answered question should not be deleted. The record of what was uncertain and how it was resolved is the most useful thing this section produces, and it is exactly what is lost when notes are tidied.
References
Questions cite their own sources. This page is a convention.