Day 4 - 75 -- Parsing Questions

Have you ever heard a question that made you say, 'what'?!? I've always maintained that there are no silly questions. If you need to know, you need to ask. Be brave and go for it. Now, this might include some common sense. If the question includes the answer as the person talks or types through it, then it might not need to be asked -- at least not in the way it is phrased on the first attempt. Is the answer somewhere accessible to the questioner, or is the questioner asking simply to avoid the work of finding the answer on their own?

Questions may ask for information that is highly personal and may be intrusive. Is it base curiosity or does this bit of information really need to be extracted? Is there a power imbalance in play that makes it difficult to ask a question of or to truthfully answer from someone with greater power? We like to think that we treat people equally, but it may be that our questions are coming from a place of privilege that might not recognize the divide that actually exists.

Questions come in all sizes and types. I have felt that some might be almost silly, but it could be a miscommunication. This made me think of songs that posed questions and I found one that is truly a silly question. Enjoy!

Who Put the Bomp -- Barry Mann