
I just read Doing Justice by Preet Bharara. Here is a passage by this highly regarded former federal prosecutor:
People are forever using acronyms they can’t expand, spouting jargon they can’t translate, trafficking in concepts they don’t grasp. They parrot shallow talking points and slogans and other people’s recollections. When you take at face value everything said to you—even from supposed subject matter experts opining with great confidence—you are at risk of perpetuating everyone’s superficial understanding of the matter at hand. There is no shame in asking basic questions, in virtually any context. In fact, it is essential to your personal understanding of any issue. ….find the person in the new job who asks the fewest questions and there’s your problem.

We think of prosecutors as at the high end of conviction (pardon the pun). Preet speaks of the power of simple questions to unseat certainty. How many do you ask each day? I find it highly useful to differentiate questioning something, which typically starts with a viewpoint, and asking questions where you are open to different answers.
Quick aside: this book also reflects the power of examples. The author uses actual incidents not just illustrate his points but to make them. Examples and questions—vs. generalizations and assertions. Let curiosity reign!