Yes Virginia, There Are Stupid Questions

While the questions given in this debate were undeniably presented on the internet for the purpose of entertainment, that was not the original intent of the questions, as can be seen in the context of the sources. Entertainment is merely a consequence, as most foolishness is often wont to be. Shakespeare's pen provides us with an amusing truth: All the world's a stage. [1] Reasons are rarely provable in conjecture derived from the internet. Nevertheless, "stupidity" is an undeniable fact of life. Otherwise, there would be no point in defining the word. That "stupidity" is often injected into questions, of which five examples have been offered in this debate. Yes, the questions could very well have been fabricated, but life dictates that they could be, and are indeed, very likely true. As for the possibility of the questioners being mentally handicapped; with the unlikely exception of the tourist, the sources strongly indicate that the questions were posed by competent people: Two educated students, and two attorneys. 1. If this question were to be viably excused by dyslexia, would not the question have more appropriately been: How do you spell GSP? According to the source, the question was asked by an 8th grade student. Accepting that the question was truly asked, and not made up for the sake of entertainment, it is reasonable to believe that a teacher would not make fun of an 8th grade student struggling with dyslexia. A condition any experienced teacher would quickly ascertain from a student. Simple reasoning clearly shows that a young, mentally stable, woman in her mid teens asked how to spell something that was obviously self evident. When it comes to asking a stupid question, she is not excused. 2. According to the source, the question was posed by a high school student, not a child. Unless the student was deprived of an education before participating in a high school science class, which is highly unlikely, she should have been knowledgeable of the basics of astronomy, knowing that the Earth revolves around the Sun. Even if she were never taught the basics of astronomy, a girl in her mid teens, mentally capable of attending a high school science class, should be able to note the passing of the Sun, and make simple deductions. Her question falls in line with a pregnant girl asking where babies come from. 3. I agree that the question is warped ... in a stupid way. While those with an average, or even higher, education may not necessarily know the measure of distance that separates kilometers and miles, they well know that the two are not related, save that they both denote a measure of distance. The difference between meters and inches is taught to young children. There is little excuse for not knowing the difference. 4. The context can be found at the question's source. This question was asked by an attorney in a court of law. There is no two ways to look at this question. When an educated man asks another man if he or his brother died, the question is clearly a stupid one. 5. Non sequitur. There is only one plain definition of suicide: The taking of one's own life. An attorney is asking a living person how many times he/she has killed himself/herself. The question is undeniably stupid. As to the final statement: Again, non sequitur. The "quotes" are questions asked in ignorance, not in uninformed desperation. ------------------ [1] As You Like It, act II, scene VII