Is My Question Dumb?
25 Jan 2024
Do Dumb Questions Exist?
What if I were to tell you that there is such a thing as a dumb question? For many of us, we have been told since childhood that all questions are good questions. I wouldn’t necessarily say that there are dumb questions, rather, there are bad questions that not only make it incredibly difficult to answer but also discourage others from answering the question. I am sure that we have all asked a bad question that left the answerer confused or questioning whether we paid attention or not. This leaves your reputation in danger and your misapprehension still unsolved. For this reason, it is important to know how to cultivate a smart question.
What is a bad question?
A good way to introduce what qualifies as a good question is to first define what a bad question is.
How to notice a bad question
This question was posted on stack overflow which is what many developers use when they have a programming question. It was found in the ‘ recently asked questions’ section and I found it minutes after it was posted. In those few minutes, Stack Overflow was very quick in taking it down. Unfortunately, Stack Overflow took it down so quickly that the question is no longer viewable. Stack Overflow deems this as a bad question so let’s analyze what exactly is bad about it.
Components of a bad question
To start, the header does not aid in explaining what the question is about or what the author may need help with. It is more of a plea for help rather than an actual topic for a forum. The header is critical in these types of forums that load thousands of questions per day. It is the first introduction to your question as it is the only thing that the users see when scrolling through questions in stack overflow. For this reason, having a good header that indicates the topic you have a question about will help in gaining traction for your question which will give you a higher chance of your question being answered.
There is also the issue of grammar in the question. In both the header and the body of the text, there are incorrectly spelled words and the overall tone does not seem to be the most professional. Some slack is given to those who are not proficient in English or where English is not their first language. However, you must mention this within the body of the text.
The major problem with the question is its content. It is noticeable that the author gave no context to the question. They were not able to explain their specific situation, and possibly provide background information. As a result of this ambiguity, there is no way to answer the question as there is no question in the first place. From a viewer’s perspective, it seems as though the author put no effort into the assignment and rather just wants the answers to get the assignment done. This is not conclusive evidence to say that the author did not try their best to complete the assignment. However, there is also no evidence to prove otherwise.
How to create a smart question
A smart question first starts with good preparation. You must ensure that you have exercised all of the resources available to you before asking a question. This could be through your friends, the web, or through books. It would be embarrassing to ask a question and the answer is on the front page of a simple Google search. Good preparation shows that you put the time and effort into learning the material but you still need help. Answers to questions are meant to guide you, not to tell you the entire answer to a problem. By doing so, you shorthand yourself by making sure you lack the basic knowledge and problem-solving skills that you would have gained by actually putting the effort into attempting to solve a problem.
How to ask a question on a forum
When you can show that you are properly prepared for the question and you put your best effort into your attempts, you must also find a proper place where you can ask this question. Typically you would want to post it on a forum with high traffic and is closely related to your specific topic. One really popular forum is Stack Exchange. As a result of its popularity, you will often find your question or something similar to it has already been answered.
Once you find a proper place, you must also format your question to ensure that the answerer understands what your question is about as well as making it accessible for other users. This starts with a good header that indicates the problem you encountered. You could also use tags so that your question is easier to find.
Precision is also an important aspect of your question. You want to be able to give the answerer as much information and details as possible for them to better understand the problem you have encountered. The context of your problem, the preparation and research you did prior, and how you attempted to solve the problem are some essential contexts that you should include in a question. You must include the symptoms of the problem instead of what you think went wrong. Although it might seem helpful, providing what actually went wrong through context would be more beneficial than your interpretations.
Overall, a smart question should be precise, showcase your knowledge and how prepared you are, and well as accessible to the answerer and viewers. You want to showcase how invested and interested you are in the problem. You should be able to show your motivation in learning rather than just your desperation for an answer. At the end of the day, the answers are donating their time to help you with a question. Ensure that their time is not wasted.
What should a smart question look like?
Above is an example of a smart question found on Stack Overflow. The heading gives a good introduction as to what the author’s problem is. They then give enough background information for the viewers to give a satisfactory response. They include information such as the language they are using, symptoms of the problem, a snippet of the problematic code, as well as the type of operating system they are using. The author was also able to show the effort that they put in by mentioning the different approaches they took. The only problem that could interfere with the answers is how broad the questions are. As a result, the answers to this question are ample but also address that it covers various topics.
Responses to a Smart question
For example, the top-rated answer goes over various topics within the issues that they found within their problem. However, more than a thousand people found this answer to be extremely helpful. In this way, asking a smart question can lead to very helpful answers that guide you through the problem and help you understand the logic behind the answer. This is in comparison to the previous bad question, where there were no responses.
Reasoning for smart questions
This is in no way to falter or prevent anyone from asking questions for the fear that they may seem dumb or that their question is stupid. Questions out of general curiosity are encouraged. However, for questions regarding topics that you should already have an interest in or knowledge about, these kinds of ‘stupid’ questions appear to be searching for the answers rather than the logic behind them. It would just be a cheap way into an already highly sought-after industry. Knowing how to differentiate between what is considered a smart question and a bad question is beneficial in the long run. It ensures that if you were to ever ask a question, it can be answered.
Here is a link to StackOverflow Smart Question Example.