[gortusbig]

To preface, I feel that maybe Kim is commenting about the specific phrase "because I said so," but I am talking here about the sentiment behind it and not so much the specific wording. "Try it a while and see" is the same basic idea behind "because I said so," since it also offers no explanation, so some people who want a "good answer" are no less frustrated by that kind of answer:

For what it's worth, I was brought up to believe that teachers aren't obligated to explain themselves. While "because I said so" might be intellectually unsatisfying, it is, to me, an acceptable response and only suggests to me that I am not trying hard enough as a student.

I think asking questions and understanding the reason behind things is an important part of learning, and so people should not be shy about asking questions, and they should be encouraged with politeness and good answers.

That said, I think it is very easy to cross the line into the arrogance of thinking that either, as a student, you have some kind of entitlement or privilege to demand the answer from someone who is only there as a friend to help you along in your own personal development, or, as a teacher, you have a better understanding of "why" than you really do.

From the student's perspective, there is not fundamentally that much difference between a student doing something because their instructor gave them an explanation and their instructor telling them "because I said so," other than to cater to ego. The student has no way of knowing if the explanation is correct, so in both cases the student has to trust the instructor. The main difference is that giving an answer is to give the student the impression that they now also understand the "truth," whereas the less satisfying answer leaves no such misconception. Consider, for example, a 4-kyu asking a 1-kyu that is teaching them something "why." The intellectually honest answer is "I don't know, this is how they showed me, just practice it this way for now," which amounts to the same response as "tradition" or "because I said so." That is an extreme example, but it isn't really that different for many levels of instructors. It is often said that Mochida sensei has said that it took him 50 years to learn the fundamentals of kendo. Not many instructors have that kind of experience.

I think that sometimes both students and teachers should be satisfied that "because I said so" is the best possible answer. People who feel challenged by "because I said so" or are embarrassed to admit to the limits of their knowledge should stop treating learning as a competition. I include myself, as I struggle with this kind of egotism as well.