The Question of "Why"

It's a vague memory of mine, but I think I was ten at the time, when I was sitting in the car with my dad and he asked me why I believed in God. My dad, mind you, was a staunch Christian and leading a Bible study at the time. Briefly had a church of his own (unofficially). I told him that I believed in God because he did. He told me that wasn't good enough and then proceeded to play devil's advocate and tried for over an hour to convince me there was no God and we just evolved. He wouldn't relent at all and forced me to make my case. He threw scientific arguments at me and I did the same back to him. I held my ground and, I believe, in the end, I won that round.

Now, this may sound completely strange to you, considering his faith and all, but also take into consideration it was Dad who taught me chess. Not once did he let me win and I can't really say I ever beat him. I tried and my game improved expedentially, but he always won in the end. He wanted us (my sister and I) to believe for just reason. To "question everything and hold fast what is good" (1 Thessolonians 5:21). He wanted us to not only believe what we believed in, but why we did . 

Now, this struck true with me. I'm a philosopher at heart; not an engineer. I could care less how a clock works. What I really want to know is why time is important in the first place. If the "how's" explain and justify the "whys" of this life, then awesome. But I'll still question it until I research it for myself. 

This is why I don't let anyone off the hook. I'm a high school graduate. I passed (barely, and by the skin of my teeth). But I was studying quantum physics before it was a mainstream term. Dad, who was probably on par with me academically (which isn't saying much), taught me chess, the love of astronomy, and to question always. By societal terms, we were just a bunch of backwater bumkins who just happen to be savants. The reality is that, by questioning all, we became much smarter than anyone ever gave us credit for.