July 25, 2008

Don't ask Stupid Questions!

Questions to which the answer is meant to be obvious or questions which we feel are so irrelevant that one would not wish to answer them seem to render themselves in people’s minds as stupid! There are so many times when I feel like asking some questions, at times very simple but something which I am not too certain of.

Then there are those questions which occasionally pop into my mind but I refrain from asking as I know the answer and a part of me only wishes to reconfirm what I know. Then there are also those times when I feel I am going to ask a real stupid question and then go ahead and ask it which results in people getting confused. Now, those who previously were giving me those ‘You don’t know!’ glances start to look about trying to word their understandings to better my understanding.

Recently I have also come across some who when I do ask my ‘stupid’ questions, seem to have an answer which makes quite a bit of sense. Why do those who are not too sure of the answer exclaim and say ‘Oh! Even I was wondering about that once!’ but, they only remain stone faced and end up failing to do their bit of explanation.

With time I have realized some key aspects of a Mr. Know – it – all versus a Mr. True Know – it – all.

Mr. Know – it – all
  1. Tends to talk in a finalizing tone(the one that gives you a feel that it’s the end of the conversation)
  2. Usually tends to override someone’s sentence (seeming to already know what that someone was intending to say)
  3. Has an inclination to ask you the ‘stupid’ questions which have been riding on the top of your head and then pounce on you with a detailed explanation of the answer also.
Mr. True Know – it – all
  1. Gives you a tinge of a feeling with regard to Wikipedia
  2. Seems to be asking you also questions regarding what you might truly know more than Mr. True Know – it – all
  3. Doesn’t ask the ‘stupid’ questions, but rather just answer the peeking questions in your head.

3 comments:

  1. hmmm... i've had that sorta thing going in my head all the time... and then being branded as disinterested all because i didnt do any amount of questioning...

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  2. Who is the judge of what is a stupid question and what is an intelligent one?

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  3. It just so happens, and I don't know if I can generalize it, but I know a lot more Ms know-it-alls to Ms True know-it-alls.

    Why the gender bias !

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