If there are no stupid questions, then what kind of questions do stupid people ask? Do they get smart just in time to ask questions?
Scott Adams
[He has a very good point.
I think it is important to acknowledge there are stupid people and that even smart people sometimes say stupid things. One should not pretend that something stupid didn’t just occur but to handle it graciously when it does.—Joe]
That’s a good quote. The frequently stated “There are no stupid questions” is disingenuous. I suppose “Don’t worry about asking stupid questions– I won’t ridicule you for it but will try to answer as best I can” is much more honest, that is, if you mean it.
SNL, IIRC, did a skit on this, saying repeatedly that it was OK to ask any question and then ridiculing the hell out of every person who asked a question.
Heh. I remember an instructor in Power School constantly asking “are there any questions? The only stupid question is the one you don’t ask…” Every now and then someone would ask a question, which he would then patiently answer. Until one day a guy in my class (not gonna say if it was or was not myself…:ahem:) asked a question. The room got real quiet, the instructor just stared for a minute or so, then replied “well, dam. There ARE stupid questions, after all.”
Most stupid questions are not asked by the unknowing but by the willfully ignorant, in those incidents graciousness is weakness. Stupid for the sake of ideology should be singled out and brutally ridiculed, they would do the same for you. Turning the other cheek is no longer an option. Graciousness will only end in defeat and death.
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