Seriously?

Everyone has their own way of thinking. Some are very slow, and others are very fast. We all have intricately formed minds that process things differently. And with those intricately formed minds come a lot of questions. Some are very valid questions and others are outright stupid to ask. But is a stupid question really a thing? I have the perfect story of a stupid question that I’ve had.

A normal night in my life involves the family at home and relaxing in the living room. My sister has fallen into the love of watching sports ever since her last boyfriend who was a sports fanatic. Although they broke up, she still loves to watch every sports season and its outcomes. When I come home from sports or my girlfriends it’s either football, basketball, baseball, or hockey. It was the middle of winter at the time in Maine, and basketball was playing on the TV. Playing was the Denver Nuggets and the Miami Heat. Now this is where my question arises. I’m starting to watch some of the games with my family after walking in the door, and I start to think. Where is Denver, why can’t I think where the state of Denver is? Yeah, the question was that dumb. At the time it didn’t even run through my mind. Here’s the thing about these questions. Often when I ask these stupid questions, it’s because I ask it before thinking about it myself. So like normal, I ask my family, “Where is the state of Denver?”. My whole family looks at me with disbelief. I turn around to see their faces all locked on me. I was so confused, I didn’t know what happened, or what I did. I thought it was a legitimate question myself, which is even more embarrassing because I couldn’t think of the obvious answer that I knew. I put more and more thought into it. My head was spinning with states. Why did part of me think Denver was next to Road Island? Things I’ll never know. Maybe I was tired, or just out of my own head. At this point, my sister chimed in abrasively and harshly. Stating how stupid my question really was. I looked at my family like a deer in headlights. Now the embarrassment kicked in, and fast! I was thinking, oh my goodness what about that was so stupid. I kept thinking and thinking of solutions. I had nothing left to think, I had to give up and succumb to my idiocracy. I finally requested an answer. My sister says that Denver is not a state, and in fact is a city in Colorado. So I was wrong, very wrong, very very wrong. First of all, it is not a state, and even better is not on the East Coast! My family all laughs at me, partially in disappointment from the son that they have raised. And maybe this is me just being harsh on myself, but I thought it was really stupid. The result of my question was not ideal. But I did learn something from this. More or less an opinion about stupid questions.

There is no such thing as a stupid question. Sure, we all ask questions that aren’t very productive. And some questions are a waste of time because we know the answers. But every question has a large purpose in our day-to-day life. And even if that question is trivial or stupid, it still reveals to us what we may not know or need reassurance on. If you ask those questions, you’ll never have to ask them again … hopefully. These questions are unavoidable throughout our lives. Everyone will have their stupid question one day.

For me, it’s having the courage to ask what may seem “stupid questions” when I have them. Because although they may seem stupid, I believe they are key to learning and to higher confidence. What is the most uncomfortable for me is when I raise my hand to ask a stupid question and then I remember the answer just as it’s about to be answered. Then my teacher will force me to say it because there is no such thing as a stupid question. I agree with this, so I’ll say it anyway even though it’s embarrassing.

I will always ask my stupid questions to learn more throughout my life. And I encourage you to ask your own stupid questions knowing that they are purposeful in your life.

“That is the Question” by cogdogblog is licensed under CC BY 2.0.