One of my favorite quotes regarding this is from Michael Crichton in one of his more obscure, autobiographical books called Travels:
"Although knowledge of how things work is sufficient to allow manipulation of nature, what humans really want to know is why things work. Children don't ask how the sky is blue. They ask why the sky is blue."
I recommend the book to anyone and everyone looking to explore their own understanding of the world and their place within it.
The real 'why' can be a dangerous question to answer, though. :)
"Daddy, why do the owls want to make the Sun go away forever?"
"Well, Billy, it's because the film is an expression of the cultural tension generated by the threat of nuclear warfare which faced American society in the 1980s when it was made. When they're singing about how the good guys are 'running out of batteries' it's giving you a context to interpret your experiences in a possible future in which you might have to hide out in a fallout shelter in the dark for days at a time."
"Although knowledge of how things work is sufficient to allow manipulation of nature, what humans really want to know is why things work. Children don't ask how the sky is blue. They ask why the sky is blue."
I recommend the book to anyone and everyone looking to explore their own understanding of the world and their place within it.