Oddbean new post about | logout
 @f42fdd5b 

I'm curious what they suggested to use instead, where you're trying to understand. 
 @7ee1b20b

I'm not sure that I remember quite what they suggested. It's been 50 years ago now. But I have come up with a number of ways of looking for information and understanding. One might be: how did you come to this conclusion? Another might be: help me understand how we got to this point.

Cassandra, I don't think any of them are quite as succinct as using just the word why.  But they all require you to use a bit of creativity and be a little more wordy.