On ‘dumb’ questions
Why we don’t ask enough of them and why we really should.
Dumb questions are not appreciated.
I just watched Anu Hariharan’s interview of Kunal Shah at Thrive by Groww and among a lot of things he said that resonated with me, this stood out.
In a status-driven society like ours, appearing as the elusive cool & smart person is paramount — and as a result, people hesitate to ask dumb questions. Not knowing shows weakness and takes away from the image one is trying to craft. Those who do dare to ask dumb questions are often met with obnoxious responses, exhausted faces and belittlement, and over time, this kills their curiosity.
Not only is asking dumb questions a great way to learn in general, it is a way that naturally helps one learn from first principles and form fundamental building blocks of knowledge. Because dumb questions aren’t encouraged, people often don’t have an understanding of a lot of fundamental principles, and because our rote-based exams usually require us to memorize textbook definitions, this lack of understanding goes unexposed for an alarmingly long period of time.
Though people may be quick to call your questions ‘dumb’, you’d be surprised & amused to see how often they aren’t able to answer them. I’ve come across a professor who has a PhD in Computer Science and has been teaching Shell Scripting for ~5 years but wasn’t able to give a clear answer when a student asked him what a Shell is.
Don’t let others dissuade you from asking dumb questions and having random curiosity. Be ruthless in your pursuit of knowledge. It is okay to not know if you’re willing to learn, but it’s self-sabotaging to not know, fake knowing it (out of fear of being made fun of) and in turn prevent yourself from ever learning.
Try to be a learn-it-all rather than pretending to be a know-it-all.
