There is Absolutely Such a Thing as a Stupid Question

Since the start of my YouTube show a year ago, I have answered over 500 questions on everything from entrepreneurship to aliens. In fact, I have probably answered close to 600 by now.

That’s a lot of questions.

So it makes sense that someone would ask me, “Hey Gary, is there such a thing as a stupid question?”

It might be a cliched thing to say, but it’s interesting to think about.

You may expect to come back with the normal response: “There is no such thing as a stupid question.”

Well, I’m not going to say that.

Why? Because there is an enormous amount of stupid questions. There are stupid people who say stupid things; so yeah, there is such a thing as a stupid question.

But, here’s the catch: this is just from my perspective. It’s my opinion. In the grand scheme of things, no one person gets to be the judge and the jury in this situation. What may be a stupid question to me could be fascinating to another person, and vice versa.

However, the fact remains that someone is going to hear that question, and they are inevitably going to have a reaction to it. There is a human that decides whether the question is interesting or engaging or not. The politically correct answer would be to say all questions have merit, that we learn from asking anything. And that is true. But ultimately, someone is going to make the “stupid or not” call.

Confession: I think 99% of the questions people ask me are stupid at first. But that’s because the questions directed at me are things I know a lot about. People ask me about social media, businesses…things I am well versed in. So I remember that. I remember that these are things I have a lot of experience in. I check that, and then I address the question. After that, the question doesn’t always seem as stupid.

So while I don’t want to come out with a “no such thing as stupid questions” manifesto, I do want to be clear with this: when you’re the one getting asked a question, remember that someone is coming to you because they assume you can help, maybe in a big way.

Time is everyone’s number one asset; the greatest thing you can offer someone is your time. Whether you’re asking the question or hearing it, just remember that.

What do you think? Would love to hear your thoughts on stupid questions. Do you subscribe to the “no stupid questions” belief? Let me know!