Lessons from the Emperor’s New Clothes: The Power of Questioning

“Education should never teach you the answers,” Dr. Lynn Weldon told me. “It should teach you how to ask questions and then provide you with the means to answer those questions.”

What Dr. Weldon was saying is simple. He urged his students to never settle for what everyone else’s answers, but to research a question. Examine it from all sides. And then, and only then, either accept or reject it.

A sub theme to his comment was because someone has a long list of credentials and people agree with them, does not make them right. All it might mean is they have a big mouth.

It comes down to finding out for ourselves.

A story I recall him saying was the story of the Emperor’s new clothes.

You’re all familiar with it. It’s only been told a million times and been added to over the ages. So, here’s how I remember the story he told in class.

It seems the king of this country was sold a set of clothes that of course, he couldn’t see. That it was made of a cloth that only the elite and right-thinking people could see. The clothes were advertised as such.

Whole columns in the newspapers were dedicated to it. The clothes were talked about constantly as to how grand they were. The magical properties of the cloth was discussed. And over and over it was said you had to be elite and smart and have the right mindset to see them.

Had television existed, a documentary would have been made showing the making of the cloth. People would have been interviewed while sewing the garments. Whole pages on the internet would have been founded, and someone would be taking orders for future clothing.

But the King had to model the clothes first.

On a pre-determined day, the King put on the marvelous new clothes and paraded through the town wearing them. Everyone commented on how grand the clothes were and how good the King looked in them. Everyone buzzed on getting themselves some.

But as the King paraded past, one young man looked at his mother. There was puzzlement on his face as he asked, “Mommy, why is the king naked?”

The boy had observational evidence that all the advertising and commentary was nothing but hot air. He understood what the word naked meant. And he saw the King was in his birthday suit.

Hearing that, the king realized he was naked in public and ran for the safety of his castle.

There, he went into a fit of despair.

But his court rallied around him. “We saw the new clothes,” they all said.

“But he said I was naked.”

“Of course. He’s just a simple-minded boy. He couldn’t be expected to see these wonderful clothes.”

To prove the point, they got the King’s checkbook. They pointed to the check he’d written to pay for the new clothes. “His majesty is smart enough not to pay for something that doesn’t exist. Therefore, you bought something. Didn’t you?”

Rather than admit embarrassment, the King nodded.

“If you bought something, it stands to reason it was made.”

“True.”

“And they told you only the elite and sophisticate people with the right mindset could see it. Correct?”

“That’s true.”

“Then it stands to reason, the clothes exist. You weren’t naked and the child is a simpleton. His opinion doesn’t count.”

So, the King continued to wear the new clothes. Reviews were done and whole fashion shows were organized. Models strutted the runways wearing clothing made from this amazing fabric. There were fashion spreads in major magazines and newspapers.

Thousands was spent on advertising, and the orders flowed in.

Soon, the whole kingdom was wearing the magical clothes and very proud of it.

The young man insisted now that everyone in the kingdom was running about in the buff. He was a source of increased frustration because he refused to see the clothes they paid so much money for. Public outcry demanded something be done about him.

So, the king did what a King would do.

He declared a Royal edict that said the child was a simple idiot. He was out of touch with reality and how dare him go against society.

Worse, the King made him what George Orwell would call an “Unperson.” It was declared he simply didn’t exist, therefore he had no opinion, and to ignore him.

It really didn’t bother the child much. He’d always been a free thinker and a loner as a result. All the edict did was to make that official.

There was a benefit to all this for him.

When winter came, he was the only one who didn’t freeze to death.

So, I’d say the big thing I learned was that being a cynic is OK.

You just might be right after all.