If we for instance take, as an example, someone thoroughly explaining something which is clear to 99,9999% of the earths adult population don’t you think the remaining .0001% could come up with some? I get that this community is a place to allow people to ask questions they can’t or won’t ask elsewhere but I certainly feel stupid sometimes when I ask questions while attending courses etc.
So bottom line, how do you ask questions when you feel stupid?
Well, the truth is, there are “stupid” questions—or at least, there are questions you could have figured out yourself. There are people that will judge you for asking them, and in a certain light, they have a point. Challenging yourself to figure things out is a valuable skill.
HOWEVER, most people don’t feel that way, and your fear of being judged is often much stronger than necessary. You should ask yourself, “would I get more valuable information from asking the question than figuring it out myself”? Be honest, but if the answer is yes, it’s a good question.
The other thing is, the consequences of asking a stupid question are almost always much less than the consequences of doing something wrong as a result. To illustrate that point, take an example from my life. I’m a manager, and I have two employees. One of them has never asked a question the entire time she’s been working with us, despite me explicitly asking her to. She’s determined to figure everything out herself, but the quality of her work is pretty poor. I have another employee who asks questions constantly. When I review his work, there are very few mistakes, because we’ve already discussed any concerns he’s had. Guess which person I’m considering promoting?
That applies just as easily to a class setting. If you take the risk of sounding stupid when you ask questions, chances are not only will your test scores be better, but your classmates will probably appreciate the questions because they have them as well.
Exactly this. I am a teacher, and I always tell my students “There is no such thing as a stupid question as long as it seeks to clarify, or to deepen one’s understanding. Any question posed with the sincere desire to better understand something is welcome.”
There are students who will ask questions because they weren’t attentively listening to my explanation (their peers always say something like “He just explained that”) — I will patiently explain it to them again while the rest of the class listens in (or tunes me out because the were listening and don’t need or want to hear it again.)
I want to encourage them to ask questions whenever and where ever they encounter things they do not understand; I hope that this mindset encourages them to do so whether be at school, at work, or in their personal relationships.
Best answer so far, but I think it discounts one small but important thing, so I would like to elaborate on it. In a time when the scientific method itself is being thrown into distrust, how is a reasonable young person supposed to determine who they can trust to be truthful?
You can’t expect them to personally repeat the entire history of science experiments to verify the findings for themselves.
They do have one potential solution though, they can ask us. They can then watch us hash the answer out amongst ourselves, using the internets naturally argumentative nature to their advantage. They can directly question particular answerers, to unearth more detail that pertains specifically to what they are trying to understand.
This is all actually a pretty intelligent strategy, and I think it highlights the importance of spaces specifically like this one. It’s why I participate in them fairly actively, as my own internet debate chops are very, very thoroughly practiced, and that can actually be useful to others.
Great point. Draw on the shared knowledge of other people. Not only is it a smart idea, but it’s the entire foundation of what sets our species apart. To intentionally deprive yourself of that is ludicrous.