Jump to content
Science Forums

Stupid questions...


Boerseun

Recommended Posts

To take this seriously for just a moment, I've been told hundreds of times that there's no such thing as a stupid question, mostly by people who by their tone make it very clear they think there definitely is such a thing and whoever prompted the denial has just given a perfect illustration of such. A stupid question is one asked while the answer is staring you in the face. I used to run an Information Desk. Almost daily someone would come to the Information Desk and ask where the Information Desk was. Can anyone explain to me how that is not a stupid question? When people prefaced their questions by calling them stupid, I'd explain that I would need to reserve judgment until I'd heard the question. If the question was definitely stupid, I would occasionally say so, driving my supervisor crazy.

 

Yes, there are stupid questions (as has been beautifully proved in this thread). Reporters are trained to ask stupid questions, because the answer may go far beyond the obvious response and may reveal something about the character of the responder. When I was then given the mantra that there is no such thing as a stupid question, I was asked to deny the existence of what had been a very useful tool.

 

So yes, Virginia, there are stupid questions, but there is nothing ever asked that is as stupid as blithely saying "There's no such thing as a stupid question."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A stupid question is one asked while the answer is staring you in the face. I used to run an Information Desk. Almost daily someone would come to the Information Desk and ask where the Information Desk was. Can anyone explain to me how that is not a stupid question? When people prefaced their questions by calling them stupid, I'd explain that I would need to reserve judgment until I'd heard the question. If the question was definitely stupid, I would occasionally say so, driving my supervisor crazy.

"

 

Two points - the question is stupid to you because you can see the answer but the person asking might not see it, until it is pointed out to them

 

Second, pointing out to somebody that their question is stupid, can be a stupid response because they may take offense at this and punch you on the nose because their ego is hurt (hurt pride, hurt nose). This is why 'polite' communication exists, to keep your facial features intact..:hihi:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Two points - the question is stupid to you because you can see the answer but the person asking might not see it, until it is pointed out to them

 

Second, pointing out to somebody that their question is stupid, can be a stupid response because they may take offense at this and punch you on the nose because their ego is hurt (hurt pride, hurt nose). This is why 'polite' communication exists, to keep your facial features intact..:hihi:

 

No students were harmed in the performance of our duties. We always made sure they would understand the joke before we made it. I forgot to explain that as carefully as I should have.

 

As David Letterman likes to say "Don't try this at home, kids. Go over to the neighbor's house."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ah, so you are Cartman incarnate? <------ I'm with stupid?

 

You know... I think I've learned something from all this. Maybe there's no point in asking stupid questions. Maybe there's no point in asking people who ask stupid questions to stop asking stupid questions. Maybe there's some cosmic purpose set aside and reserved for all the stupid questions that have been, are being and some day will be asked in this universe of ours.

 

[blink][blink]

 

But I doubt it! Bad kitty! BAD, BAD, BAD KITTY!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You know... I think I've learned something from all this. Maybe there's no point in asking stupid questions. Maybe there's no point in asking people who ask stupid questions to stop asking stupid questions. Maybe there's some cosmic purpose set aside and reserved for all the stupid questions that have been, are being and some day will be asked in this universe of ours.

 

[blink][blink]

 

But I doubt it! Bad kitty! BAD, BAD, BAD KITTY!!

:crazy: meow?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

When will warning stickers get warning stickers?

 

Those warning stickers are, after all, made of indigestible stuff, has sharp edges, and can cause death if ingested, or damage if wrongly attached by the manufacturer to the wrong product, etc.

 

In this litigious world of ours, I think we should stick warning labels on warning labels.

 

And then we should stick warning labels on the warning labels on the warning labels. Just to cover our asses, of course.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Because of History Jay-Q.

 

When the Vikings discovered these lands, they "opposited" the names to encourage/discourage settlement. Iceland was named such as to discourage, when they wanted people to colonize "Green"land...

 

:)

 

:shrug:

 

Where did you get this info? Iceland's interior IS icy- a plateau with sand fields, mountains and glaciers, with big glacial rivers. Iceland possibly got its modern name from the Norwegian Viking Flóki Vilgerðarson, who chose the uninviting name "ice land" for the view of a distant fjord full of sea-ice that he glimpsed from a tall mountain. The names of Iceland and Greenland WERE NOT REVERSED. The name "Greenland," which was founded later, could be either due to erroneous transcription (from Gruntland;) or by an exiled Erik the Red, dubbing the land "Greenland" to possibly encourage settlement. But, the southern part of Greenland is, in fact, very green during the summers; and, keep in mind, Erik wasn't charging anyone to settle there, so he didn't have much to gain by misleading people.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Would depend where you are on Mars - but no later than 24:39:35.

 

Wouldn't this depend on the day and year on Earth as well? Since Martian days are longer, their time would not coincide with ours here on Earth (if you used the same Earth-year/Earth-month/Earth-day/Earth-time units).

 

That is, unless, you coordinate the time-units of Mars with our time on Earth. Meaning, all Martian time-units would be approximately 2.7% longer than its corresponding Earth time-units (since a Martian day is 2.7% longer than an Earth day). Of course, here, the definition of "day" would be something like "when a point on the surface of a planet returns to it's furthermost point from the sun". This would be keep the solar time-keeping method. Using this method, a specific time on a specific spot on Earth would then always result in the same time on a specific spot on Mars. So, the time the sun rises everywhere would be similar (you would never expect the sun to rise on Mars at 12:00 Martian-time). You can find all this info online (check out Mars24 Sunclock). Of course sunrise and sunset would all be relative to the distance from the planet's axis.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...