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Cake day: June 12th, 2023

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  • 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.