… and why is this community against them?
I opened this thread hoping for exactly this, and was not disappointed.
In my just over a year here and using him as my avatar, I think this is the first time I’ve actually said the line lol.
I thought i remember a thread from when you first created that account where we were all making you say the line.
Oh, yeah. I did, lol. That was fun. Forgot about that.
But that was deliberately in-character. I think this is the first time I just threw it out
This is it - the stupid question. It displays a complete lack of understanding and utter laziness.
It’s perfect. It screams “I read the name of the community and took no other action to learn more about it before posting.”
This is how you do it, folks
Congratulations @frankenswine
If it’s so easy, why didn’t you link the answer?
People have already correctly answered that in this community there are no stupid questions, you’re supposed to be able to ask anything without ridicule. But if you want to permit the general existence of stupid questions, here’s the definition I’ve always used.
A stupid question is one you can easily answer yourself.
As in, any question due to real lack of knowledge is not stupid, but if you can answer your own question just by thinking about it for a second, then it wasn’t necessary to ask and therefore "stupid”.
I always thought as tho the meaning of the sub name is to make fun of people who do not awnser “stupid questions” by saying that they are forbidden from the sub.
Maybe I’m just stupid lol
This is the safe space to ask a question you have that you are afraid other people would find stupid.
It’s especially good for things some people feel are common sense, but that others just managed to miss growing up.
Here’s an example. My husband is really smart. But he moved schools a lot over a 3 year period. He managed to completely miss kids being taught 1 is January, 2 is February, etc for dates. He just never learned it.
He knows his birthday in number form. But if he needs, say May 23rd in number form, he’ll look it up or ask me which number May is.
Some people would classify that as a stupid question and be a dick about it. I just answer him. I know he’s tried to learn it, he’s just never sure if he’s right and knows I know.
This sub operates under the good faith that there are no stupid questions, just people who legit missed something along the way.
In life, I would argue, there are stupid questions. But for me, it’s only in situations where someone is clearly just asking questions to make you break, or clearly not listening and asking the same questions over and over without even trying to pay attention, and lastly, weaponized incompetence where people are acting like that because they don’t want to do something and won’t just say no. Basically questions that are exclusively to waste someone else’s time are the only really stupid questions irl imho
But here, you get the benefit of the doubt if you don’t know how to properly brush your teeth, or why May is 5 and July is 7.
I believe the name originated on reddit, and an accurate name would be “thereAreNoStupidQuestionsHere” but the shorter version is what got the brand recognition, but the confusion is understandable
Once someone asked if Stephen and Stephen were pronounced the same. Presumably they meant “Steven” for one of those, but the question as written was dumb.
Am a Stephen. No, pronounced the other way
Obvious bait
but to answer your stupid question: Things that could be easily answered by a google search are pretty stupid to post here. The implied intention of this community, and the subreddit it was inspired by, is to provide a space for people to ask questions that don’t have an immediately identifiable and/or definite answer and require certain social understanding to navigate.
“How many gallons of water to fill a pool?”, for example, is a question that does not belong here because you could easily find that info using a search engine (or even better, your pool’s owner’s manual).
“How do you know when you’ve been swindled?” is something that does belong however, because it’s asking for personal experience to help navigate a situation that cannot be provided by a search engine.
See, I don’t need the answer to how many gallons of water to fill a pool so I won’t bother looking it up. But if someone replied I’d read it out of curiosity and be better for it. Discussions aren’t just 1 on 1 dialogos, they’re broad and general to a broad and general audience.
Wait, we can’t have 50 different versions of similar sex questions here?
I have one for those that worked at Disney World. “What time is the 3 o’clock parade?”
I had a customer ask how much chicken is in an 8 piece
“Is that a real gun?”
A miserable little pile of secrets. But enough talk, have at you!
The only stupid questions are the ones you don’t ask. The full name of this community should be understood to be “[There are] no stupid questions”
I’ll have a go at this.
“No stupid questions” is something I think is applicable to any attempt at gaining knowledge, insight or perspective. “How big helicopter would you need to hoist an ice cube to the sun to extinguish it?” Though absurd, there might be a disconnect of knowledge, and the question reveals other things which could be explained.
To me, a stupid question would be some kind of rhetoric which doesn’t seek information, but instead attempts to redicule and push own standpoints or beliefs. “Have you gotten over that religious faith yet?” or “Do you realize how dumb your political views are?”. These are examples of ineffective and condescending and will likely just leave the other person with reinforced standpoints in addition to annoyance. I find that to be a stupid approach and thus a stupid question.
I don’t really know, but it’s my gut feeling.
In general, a stupid question is a question is one that allows a group to shame whomever asked it, often for wasting most people’s time and mental energy either by distracting the group or for asking something that was just explicitly answered. For example, if someone asked, “What does this community have to do with stupid questions?” as a response to my comment. That’s an example of asking something that was answered. Another stupid question in response to this comment could be, “Whhy do men have nipples?” It would be distracting because it is irrelevant to the topic at hand.
Thus, I think the way it is used in this community, “no stupid questions” means that no question will be considered stupid. In other words, users are to feel free to ask anything without fear of being ridiculed for asking it as long as it was in good faith. Moderators will be especially vigilant for anyone shaming an OP for asking a question. Users that subscribe to this community will be extra accepting of all questions.
There are no stupid questions. Only stupid people.
Thanks dad.
I miss you. Is hell as bad as you said it was?
Well…
“Do women also shake off the fuel hose after they’re done or is it just male habit?”
- would be a stupid question
But do they also unzip before?
Yes, I shake the fuel nozzle. After dribbling gasoline down the car’s paint more than once, I always tap tap before I pull it completely out.
- source, am woman
The name of the community comes from the idiom, “There’s no such thing as a stupid question.” The idea is that as long as the person asking the question genuinely wants to learn, then there is no question they can ask that would make them stupid because they’re trying to educate themselves - one of the least stupid things you can do.
Some people feel shame at not knowing something, so they’ll often talk down to themselves and call it a stupid question. This is particularly true if the asker feels it’s something that they should already know or everyone around them seems to already know.
This community offers a place where you can ask a question, no matter how small or basic, without fear of being made fun of. In a sense, you might say that the community welcomes stupid questions while at the same time reassuring the questioner that the question is not actually stupid.
You’ve definitely not been in my latest work-related course. Dayum, people are able to ask some really stupid questions. (Subjective opinion)
A stupid question is something like “why can’t we just follow the teachings of Ayn Rand and live in a libertarian utopia?” because everyone with a brain knows she is just a bad romance writer without a grip on reality and a basic understanding of how government is necessary to do things like safely build a skyscraper or acquire enough continuous land for a railroad. We don’t want stupid questions like that because obnoxious Ayn Rand followers will start spouting off nonsense.
