Of course the question "Why?" has also served us well. It has held many pointless wars at bay and limited the number of inventions like the Furbie (an ugly yet overpriced gizmo from the 90s), the Snuggie (a blanket and an unattractive poncho all rolled into one terribly bright blue package! WHY???), and many other ridiculous creations whose names could have also ended in "ie".
But despite the practical applications of the question "Why?", I put it to you that even the creator of the universe had a brilliant way of eschewing the "Why" in favour of the "Why not?". So much of His creation spells a need for innovation beyond practicality and well into the world of whimsy – creativity with a twist, purely for His enjoyment. Take for instance those little fish that live at the bottom of the sea which have a little antenna thing with a lightbulb at the end coming from their heads. Why? Duh, so they can see. And also because, well why the heck not?
So, in the words of Hilary Duff (and it's not often that I quote her, let me tell you): "Why not take a crazy chance, Why not do a crazy dance? If you lose the moment, you might lose a lot so, why not... why not?".
Grace Mathew is a Sydney-based writer and speaker who recently graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of International and Global Studies.
Garce's archive of articles may be viewed at www.pressserviceinternational.org/grace-mathew.html