Philosophy and history relevance to the work place,...?

Question

If I have a supervisor at work constantly telling me to just do things and stop asking questions, what is a surefire way to comeback and tell her that I need to, I am a very curious person, I need to know why I am being told to do something, as opposed to just mindlessly following orders,...

complacency with following orders was the birth of the nazis,...

Answer 1

You probably can't, because people who believe that orders should be enough are rarely interested in following a line of debate, let alone learning from it. But, if you choose to pursue this, I would point out that someone who knows _why_ they are doing what they are doing and understands the reasoning behind the process can make active choices that can increase efficiency, avoid mistakes, and improve the system. Whereas, those who merely follow instructions can do only that, even if the orders given are inefficient, incorrect, or even misunderstood.

Answer 2

Other than seemingly affirming Godwin's Law (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law), you have a quite interesting question. The problem with continually asking questions (why?) or seeking origins (where?) is that it is a performance that is done by both the intellectual and the ignorant. A child can say "why is x blue?" and then when given an answer say "well, why is that?" It is the seeking of an origin or a universal, but such orgins and/or universals are always fleeting and seemingly never fixed (or rigid). The difference between the intellectual and the child is only that the intellectual knows the boundary of human patience. The child ignorantly will keep pressing; the curious intellectual will merely allow for a postponement in which he/she will engage the issue further in the future. While this theoretizes the issue, the pragmatics of it is simply stated by another user who points out that if you have all the knowledge of a superior, then the superior is at risk of you taking his/her position.To keep power, one must keep hold of information.

Answer 3

Isn't that your job?

But if you really are that curious, when your boss isn't so busy, ask him/her. Because they probably have 5948579248087875 running through their minds, you have to at least realize that. Also, if one is a leader, they just don't sit around all day giving out orders, they have to ensure that everything is managing well and that all paperwork is done right or else they'll receive a lawsuit. Being the leader, it's always hard on you because they don't really see the ones that work under the leader, the leader is being spotlighted. Once the head isn't doing such a great job, they lose their credibility and possibly their job.

It's like being the eldest in the family. You always get the blame if your little brother or sister cries.

At least the NAZI's followed orders and look at how great their system worked out.

Answer 4

The law generally assumes that you are not a mindless drone. If your boss gives you an instruction and following it causes you to damage equipment, lower productivity, or otherwise cause what could be damages in a court, then YOU are the person who might be considered to be liable. So for your own protection, you either need a waiver from your boss saying that your boss takes complete and total responsibility for the repurcussions of your actions (something not likely) or you have a certain amount of right to know what you are doing and why.

But that only extends to a reasonable degree, of course. You have no right to know what's in your boss' mail, even if you are the one who carries it to the post office. Nor is your boss required to explain business theory to you in length to validate the various actions you may be undertaking on your boss' behalf.

Seek the middle ground and be reasonable. You cannot be made a mindless drone, nor can you question everything your boss does (only your boss' boss gets to do that, and even then only in the context of work). Peace.

Answer 5

Such is the natural state of the workplace.

However, you could say something like this...

"Of course I will do as you say [given that it causes no one and nothing any harm], but can you please explain why? Your explanation could [be useful in some given way to my efficiency, your efficiency, etc.]."

Good luck...

Answer 6

She wants to protect her place.If other workers learn everything,she will be needless.