@Quenby Yes, please.

Just yesterday I had someone apologizing in advance for asking a question, saying it was "rude" to even ask.

Like, seriously, knowledge is there to be shared.

If it's an honest question, you should very much NOT feel self-conscious/guilty to ask someone who can give you the answer you look.

Nobody knows everything! And even if they do, they didn't magically came into this world all-knowing and certainly had to ask at least a few questions.

@Quenby I ask a lot of questions, in part because I'm autistic and I need to fully understand things I'm told. I didn't get diagnosed until my early 40s, largely because when I was growing up ASD wasn't widely recognized. I was just seen as weird.

The worst teacher I ever had was my sardonic social studies / gym teacher when I was in 7th and 8th grade at our rural school. He often told me I asked stupid questions. That's a horrible thing to tell anyone, especially kids.

@Quenby

I'm pretty glad to teach the few things I know to whoever genuinely ask, but I think "How To Ask Questions The Smart Way" must be a mandatory reading.

http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

@Quenby I've spent the week with two young children. I've answered many many questions!

Why is that shoe there?

What is a sea gull?

What are instructions?

Which is better: "Come in" or "Stay out"?

@Quenby I still remember how, on grade six, I proudly spoke in French class, pronouncing my name (Richard) like my French grandmother did, with a slight roll on the R's.

The whole class laughed. They heard a playground insult, a slur beginning with the letter R. Hilarious.

The French teacher tried halfheartedly to tell the class that I was right. Decades later, I still feel like some stranger will laugh at me if I try to speak their language.

That kind of thing sticks.

@Quenby

A line from the movie "Meet the Robinsons" stuck with me. "That is an excellent question!"

@Quenby 2 weeks ago, we walked past the location of the incident that made us stop asking questions when we were 13. It's the 1st time we had been there since.

We asked a mundane question to our parents because we're curious if there's an association between 2 things. Our dad then made fun of us to a stranger.

We had completely repressed memories of that incident, so when it came back to us we were just a wreck.

We realised how much that one event fucked up our development. We went from shy, to fully unable to ask questions.

@Quenby

Some people don't appreciate how much of an individual's knowledge is a result of chance.
Instead they pretend like everything they know was acquired by virtue and character strength while fighting off dragons. And ignorance thus must be the moral failing of a weak and cowardly person.
Fuck them, I say.

@Quenby

Absolutely!

In an art gallery might be a painting of a bowl of fruit.

A child (or anyone!) spots and points out one of the peaches or grapes is going wrinkly and rotten. Or sees the artist painted a fly crawling on an apple.

That's the start of an important discussion in an art history class ... a really important topic!

@Quenby @Faintdreams tip I was given years ago on giving presentations at conferences or such like: when you finish, ask “who has the first question?”, rather than “does anyone have any questions?”

It’s a little thing, but it sets the tone and opens it up

@Quenby

This 100%

I'm pretty senior at work and I always tell people, day one, there are no stupid questions. If you're not sure then ask. This is drilled into my team's from top to bottom.

It's easy to forget people, especially new people, don't know everything. It's better to ask a question on day one than bluff it for six months until you understand.

Everyone doesn't know something until they know it. That's how learning works.