Smart Questions vs Not-So-Smart Questions
27 Jan 2022Why Smart Questions
In order for any of us to gain knowledge or insight, we need to be proficient at asking questions. Asking questions allows us to gain information and awareness about a particular area of interest. How to Ask Question the Smart Way by Eric Raymond annotates how we seek good questions from others to help ourselves develop understanding and see different perspectives in an area of interest. This essay explores this dynamic process as we often quickly receive the desired information we seek while other times we receive undesired information in a lengthy amount of time. This brings up the importance of understanding asking “smart” questions vs “not-so-smart” questions.
Smart Question
Being able to ask smart questions entails knowing what smart questions are. After reading through How to Ask Questions the Smart Way, I was able to take away three points made in regard to composing smart questions. First, smart questions are composed in a way that demonstrates effort has been put into “self-research” by the individual. As people generally lead busy lives, It may seem less appealing for people to take time out of their lives to answer questions that clearly communicates a lack of effort in searching for the answer themselves. This lack of effort denotes a sense of laziness that some people may not have the luxury to afford which leads to dismissal of such questions. Secondly, choosing the appropriate forum to ask the question. Asking a JavaScript programming question in a channel dedicated to C programming, for example, may not be the best thing to do to find out pertinent information. Knowing the appropriate resources or the appropriate venue to ask specific questions. Third, being clear and concise in stating the problem trying to be solved as well as the efforts that have already been explored in a professional manner.
On StackOverflow, I was able to find an example of a smart question that follows these points:
This is a question in terms of high performance computing in which the user is asking the question of, “unrolling a while loop through GCC.” The user goes on to explain the two attempts made along with the results and how the user interpreted these results. This denotes that effort had been made to solve the problem and was able to compose a concise question to allow readers to understand the context of the question. Additionally, this user chose the appropriate forum to post the question and was not composed using inappropriate grammer. This question was able to elicit multiple responses from the community interested in developing a shared understanding.
Not-So-Smart Question
In terms of “not-so-smart” questions, we consider questions that do not follow the points previously outlined. One such question from StackOverflow is:
Here the user posted a question asking about hardware installation, specifically, installing a network card that is not being recognized by the operating system. The user composed the question in a concise manner and had even explained the steps attempted to resolve the issue. Although, the question denotes that there was not a lack of effort, the elicited a response was to “use StackOverflow for programming questions, not setting up servers.” This highlights the importance of choosing the appropriate forum/communities to post questions to.
In conclusion, understanding the dynamic process of “asking a question” is important in order to receive effective answers and feedback in a timely manner. Smart questions are also effective in expanding the understanding of the communities involved with the response. Future questions in professional settings should follow smart principles for efficient,timely, and effective answers.