ASK ME ANYTHING - FAQ's and "Not-so-Stupid" Questions

First off let me say that, in my book, there is no such thing as a "stupid question".

As a child, I was often the kid in class who would be told by the teacher not to ask too many unecessary or "silly" questions...when this happened repeatedly, under the ever-present threat (whether real or perceived) of peer-presssre, my natural inclination over time was to start making assumptions based on "a priori" (pre-existing) knowledge, information, understandings, facts and data, and apply this to the new, uknown situation that I was trying not to look "stupid" about - inevitably, as is said: "to assume, makes an ass out of of u and me": sometimes these self-formed misunderstandings would persist for years, causing small or major blockages in comprehension or behaviour...

 It is therefore my genuine belief that were we to engender from the earliest level of the education system, a culture of not berating individuals just because they didn't fully understand or know something, and not create a "culture of ridicule" around for asking formerly "stupid questions" then truly will we come to see that:

"There is no-such-thing that cannot be understood."

The great genius Einstein once remarked that: anything that is true and the Truth - even the most complex mathematics - can be broken down into simple steps and structures, such that even a young child could be able to understand it...and that the ability to explain such things in the very simplest terms, is the real measure of genius.

Therefore, I intend to explore on the BabyRobot.Net website project, the most ridiculous notions and questions as well as those that seem reasonable or those that are regarded as "common-knowledge" or "common-sense" to most people, in an endeavour to understand just what would be involved in getting an actual BabyRobot to understand the world in which we live.

I therefore kindly invite visitors to this website to post (currently via e-mail - english only please) any and every conceivable question that occurs to you, and I, ultimately with the help of the BabyRobot.Net Development Team (The BR-DN-DT) will endeavour to answer each and one  of these questions to the best of our ability and knowledge, or refer the questioner in the right direction before constructing and delivering "A BRDN Response".

This exercise will ultimately help the BR-DN-DT to understand the needs of the public and the world at large, and to form a model of how knowledge, information, best-practice, wisdom etc are ultimately incorporated into the Fabric of Universal Understanding.

EXAMPLES OF SO-CALLED "STUPID", BLUE-SKY OR TIME-WASTING QUESTIONS TO GET THINGS STARTED:

1. What are thoughts made of?
2. What is the structure of an addiction in the brain?
3. What is a feeling made of?
4. What is being?
5. What is life?
6. What is the purpose of life?
7. "What is the purpose of my life?"
8. What is a behaviour pattern?
9. How is a choice made in the brain?
10. What's mechanicality?
11. What is free-will, how much free-will do we have?
12. Can we influence the outcome of every event, or are some things fated and destined?
13. What is the true measure of value, worth, meaning, importance and purpose of any event, person, animal, place or object at any level of life?

- many thanks for your warmly welcomed contributions

Sagar and the BabyRobot.NET Development Team

AskMeAnything@BabyRobot.Net