I know the most declarative sentence in the English language.

It’s not  “No, and I mean it,”

or “I’ll tell your daddy as soon as he gets home,”

or “I’ve gained weight,”

or “I must color my hair this week,”

or  “My rear just gets bigger and bigger.”

It’s  “I looked it up.”

“Are you sure we’re supposed to turn left here?”

“Yes, I looked it up.”

“How do you spell ‘occasionally’?” 

“I’ll look it up.”

“Did the invitation say “six o’clock?”

“Of course, I looked it up.”

“How do we get the skunk stink off Mat?”

“I just looked it up.”

Whatever present or future form the sentence takes, it ends all further questions.

I’m amazed at our dependence on research.   No matter how complex or trivial, we believe wholeheartedly in whatever we “look up.”

It gives us satisfaction, control, authority, self-confidence, and assurance to those around us.   It’s powerful.

On the other hand – “Did you look up the directions?”

“No, I remember.” can wither you into instant doubt, spouse loathing, insecurity, and

“Where’s my IPhone so I can look it up?”

or “Where’s the GPS?  Is it in the trunk again?”

Admittedly, in recent years technology has altered the definitive.

It’s “I googled it.”

It still works the same way.