A wise man once told me that sometimes the best way to answer a question is with another question. Google is telling me that there’s a similar quote attributed to the Buddha: “There are questions that should be answered with a counter-question.”

I used this approach when I spent some time as a tutor. I’ve tried to use it throughout my professional career as well. When the situation allows for it, I believe it’s important to get people to think about what they’re asking and help them work the problem out rather than just hand them the answer. This is especially true when you’re learning fundamental concepts.

All that has been my explanation for this.

Aside: This has me nostalgic for the Universal Hint System. Just enough guidance to help you figure it out for yourself!

This post originally appeared on The DevStop.