Quote of the day 17th April 2017


Comments

Jim said…
Not so much a fool, just ignorant. But then once answered from one source its better to check multipul ones to ensure that the answer stacks up.


And then there are further exeptions to this rule. He who does ask a qustion has to sit though a load of rubbish, and can wait for ever, but still wont get an answer.
Jim said…
the second bit was supposed to include "at PMQs"
Jim said…
In fact thinking about it, one can enter PMQ's, ask a quesion, not get an answer, and leave more of a fool than when they entered.
Chris Whiteside said…
At the risk of a boring straight answer to a humorous comment I think we seem to be making rather heavy weather of a simple but important truth.

The key message of this quote is that some people are often afraid to ask a question for fear that it might be seen as a silly question and make them look like a fool, but it is usually wise to overcome that fear and ask the question anyway.

In my experience, one can often defuse a negative reaction to a question, even a question to which everyone present knows that you actually should know the answer, by prefixing it with some variant of

"Look, my apologies if this is a silly question and I probably should know the answer to this, but just to make absolutely sure I've got it right ..."

Very few people will jump on you for asking a question in this manner, because even if having to go through it again is mildly irritating, having you get it wrong at a critical point is usually far worse.

And the consequence for yourself and others of asking a question are usually far less serious than those of not asking it and consequently getting something badly wrong.

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