Blog The Mind of Eclipse

​

Hello everyone, and welcome - back - to the Mind of Eclipse.​

As a few of you may remember, from more bygone days of Lake Valor - over a year ago for sure - my blog, The Mind of Eclipse, was a place in which I took a concept, problem, or other mental puzzle, and deconstructed it for all that it was worth, taking nothing for granted, while in the process giving my own stance and a few examples on each of the pieces therein. The postings slowed down with my being in school, plus a gradual waning of interest towards blogs in general, so after a dearth of ideas on my part, it eventually fell into shadow.

With the advent of 'New' Valor here, and my finally having graduated and out of school, I figure this is a good time to restart it. Every couple weeks or so (optimally) I'll post here a new mental puzzle, for people to consider. I'll start off with my older blog entries (I've saved every one), so for some of you who remember them before it may seem like a repeat, but many of you here have never seen my Mind before, so this will be a fresh new experience.

I do take requests for the Mind of Eclipse. As is my policy, I like to try and write things that I know people will want to read, so if there's something in particular you'd like to learn more about - or even just elaborated upon - feel free to request it in this thread, and I can devote some time to researching more about it. I won't take all requests, and it may take some time for the entry to go up (a mental puzzle does take a lot of concentration and effort, after all!), but I take all suggestions seriously.

Now, let me take you on a journey, to realms of your imaginations and mine, where few have witnessed and fewer still have trodden. I will be your guide. Shall we embark?​

::::

Table of Contents
Introduction & Beginning (Post #1)
Stupid Questions (Post #2)

::::

And, just to prove to you that I'm absolutely serious about this:

Spoiler

​

 

The Mind of Eclipse - Stupid Questions

​

My name is Eclipse, and I know for a fact that stupid questions exist. I ask them far more than I ought, unintentionally or otherwise. To "re-start" this blog, let's begin with a rather simple yet understood entry.

Instinctively, I'm sure a few of you may be thinking that "There are no stupid questions, only stupid people", or "There are no stupid questions, only stupid answers". Both of those statements are wrong. There are stupid questions, asked by both stupid people and smart people, no matter how well-meaning they may be. You want an example? Here's a perfect example. I'm aware the example is a little dated, and refers back to how notifications were set up on 'old Lake Valor', but you cannot come away from that and not believe that was a stupid question.

So what is a stupid question? A 'stupid question' is a question that is stupid. The beauty in this is that "What is a stupid question?" is itself a stupid question.

But what constitutes a stupid question? The answer to that is not always so straightforward, and for those with relatively little exposure to sarcasm, the answer may never be known. A lot of the 'stupid question' sub-culture involves a lot of non-verbal cues and unspoken taboos, including things like voice inflection and knowledge of the subject at hand. Asking someone what makes a question stupid might not always get you a straight answer.

Until now! (Mostly.)

In this excursion through the Mind of Eclipse, I will give you a list of criteria on what will make a question stupid. This is not a complete list, as other factors may be present or emerge in the future, but I will give you a list of a few things which really turn an otherwise well-meaning question into a stupid one.


The question is made while overlooking an obvious detail, that is immediately apparent to the asker and/or the receiver.
Remember the example I linked above? That very cleanly falls into this category. You might argue that a changing of one or two words ever so slightly does not constitute an obvious detail, but when things look very similar to one another, it is implied that people must have an eye for details to spot where things change between entries. These details don't have to just be words - they can be bits of the environment, facets of someone's personality, or even what's for dinner. This also includes people wishing to garner a job interview for a company, without doing prior research on what the company actually does or what its values are. (Yes, questions that don't need to be brought into the interview room, because the answers can be looked up or found out beforehand, do indeed count as stupid questions!)


The asker already knows the answer to the question, whether or not s/he chooses to admit it.
I do this all the time, though thankfully I catch myself and admit the answer before I make a right ass of myself. This method I've noticed is very common in people who are trying to look for loopholes in something, and questions generally come in the form of "I know I can't do A, but if I do B in C fashion, that looks like A but it's not actually A, is that okay?" No, sir, that constitutes A as well. (This also includes people who have already decided what the 'right answer' to their questions are.) More often than not (at least in my experience) this looks like someone attempting to seek affirmation from a peer or role model to do some action known to be wrong or undesirable, and trying to get a 'green flag' of approval to pursue it anyway. This counts as a stupid question too. And we're on to you. Idiomatically this is known as 'pushing the envelope', though this is acceptable in certain contexts (but not very many). It depends heavily on the subject material as well as what people you're interacting with.


The question is asked with no intent of receiving an answer, yet is not rhetorical.
I don't mean rhetorical questions when I'm saying this, so what the hell am I talking about? I'm talking about questions that are framed such to elicit a specific reaction from the receiver. Have you ever run into someone who has asked you a question just to rile you up, not even caring about what answer you gave? These are the questions I am speaking of here. More often than not these questions are designed to spark conflict. I'm somewhat loath to refer to these as just stupid questions - they are stupid, but they can also be quite hurtful. Examples to this are usually found in debates or arguments in which one side has already decided it's right and refuses to listen or even respect the other side's view (that's not necessarily the same as disagreeing - you can disagree with another person's views and position while still respecting them), or are framed as a personal attack on the receiver. A common form seen of these questions is "If D, then why E?" where D is something about the receiver's person or views (to be called into doubt, usually), and E is something that the asker assumes to be true that stands against that. These hurtful questions count as stupid also, and are usually asked by people who are just looking for an argument. My advice is to keep away from these people as best you can.


The question is made with little knowledge (i.e. ignorance) of the subject at hand (or that it's inquiring about).
Actually, this isn't a stupid question criterion at all - hence the strike-through. People might think that it is, and that is because it can be - but only under specific circumstances. This is actually where the "there are no stupid questions" fallacy comes from, and that is because it fails to delineate the difference between ignorance and stupidity. (For those unaware of said difference, it's that ignorance can be fixed.) If this question is asked with the genuine desire to learn, or if a detail needs to be re-confirmed (e.g. from being unsure if you heard it right or not), it is not a stupid question. If the question is approached with a know-it-all manner (such as with feigned ignorance, and/or is expecting a specific answer to be given), or has faulty presuppositions attached to it, that is a stupid question.

(These 4 are the only criteria I thought up right now. If any of you can think of any others that don't really fit into any of the categories above, OR can find a way to elaborate or expound upon anything I may have missed or inadequately explained, do let me know.)

:::: ::::

Short, isn't it? Well, these entries don't necessarily have to be long - just thorough. The purpose of this entry was for you to recognise stupid questions, and to both prevent yourself from inadvertently asking them and prepare yourself for when they arise. Stupid questions take on all kinds of flavours, but do take care to differentiate when a question is actually stupid and when it's just curious. The difference between the two tends to be small and is not often perceived.

If you were hoping for an easy escape to stupid questions, unfortunately I cannot provide that - stupid questions will be everywhere. You will have to deal with them wherever you go - among strangers, among friends, and most of all through employment (the worst part about this one is you have to maintain an air of professionalism, no matter how frustrated you may become). People come from all walks of life, some less perceptive of stupidity (usually their own) than others. While not true in all cases, stupid questions tend to be accompanied by hypocrisy, which has its own set of problems.

And don't worry - it's acceptable to be frustrated at stupid questions. That is normal. It's sometimes acceptable to be sarcastic but it depends on environment and context - for example, don't be sarcastic around friends or co-workers unless they really know you well enough to see that's just a quirk of yours. I wrote this entry to make you aware of what exactly constitutes a stupid question, and also for you to notice them when they come your way.

Just keep away from Yahoo Answers. That place is rife with them.

​

 

Okay, that gave me a chuckle; well played.

I've missed it too. I don't think I'll be posting all my older entries, and I know I won't be doing them in the same order either - but this is still an opportunity for the newer audience to catch up and see what they missed out on over a year ago. Glad to see you're following along.