I'm typically the challenger in the room...
I see things and I want to know why, I'm told things and I want to ask "why I should"... I seem to push back on all forms of authority.
Is that because I want power? Or is that because I don't want to accept things at face value?
I don't care about acquiring power. I used to, but I don't. What I care about is not to accept things without first understanding them.
Just because someone says "we've always done it that way," or "that's not something students go to," or "well the principle said this," or "this is just what we do," doesn't mean it has to be that way. In fact, I argue that people who say that haven't really stopped to question why they say that.
My challenging nature is often met with, "well then, what do you think we should do?" or, "If you're so smart why don't you figure it out?" I read those as defense mechanisms for "we don't know why and don't question us because we don't want to expose that we don't know."
Often I answer with questions like "well, what if we did it a different way?" or "how does this process help that thing happen?"
But sometimes, my answer is a simple:
"I don't know more, I know less."