Google is running in the other direction, though, with things like Instant Search, which is keen to give me an answer before it knows everything I was going to type.

FORBES: Better Bing!

No hang on, let me give you an answer.

BBC: Transcript of Nick Clegg interview

She even stayed 15 minutes after class to answer my questions and give me a little pep talk.

WSJ: In the Searching Pose

It heartened me to know I could give him the right answer, and so I persisted.

NPR: Chapter 1

If you asked me today, I would probably give the same answer, but it would be given after some careful thought.

FORBES: How Small Business Owners Walk the Ethical Line

If people ask me a question on the doorstep, or journalists, I will give an answer.

BBC: Maria Hutchings

Not surprisingly, almost all managers answer both questions with a resounding yes and then proceed to give me dozens of heartfelt examples of how complexity gets in the way.

FORBES: Are you a complexity creator?

Now after 1994, when people asked me if I was going to give up on health care reform, I always had the same answer.

CNN: Clinton's September 17, 2007, speech on health care