How does scientific inquiry differ from simply asking questions?

A scientific inquiry should have several characteristics. It's purpose is to advance knowledge about the world. So, for example, asking for the directions to get to someone's house is not a scientific inquiry, because this is simply a relaying of already existant information. It should include a testable assertion called a hypothesis which can be independently measured by some stated criteria. So, asking for the best way to get to someone's house is still not a scientific inquiry, because 'best' is undefined. However, asking for the quickest way to get to someone's house by foot might be a scientific inquiry.