Are there stupid questions?

Are there stupid questions?

In my opinion, there are not. Here is why I think so.

Questions are better classified as honest or dishonest questions.

An honest question is an act of humility, and therefore virtuous. It is the revelation of one's inner weakness and poverty. In this case, poverty of knowledge or experience.

A dishonest question is not a revelation of one's inner poverty or weakness. Because it is something pretending to be something else, it is not virtuous. It is a covert way of trapping or exposing one's interlocutor (as with the questions the Pharisees posed to Jesus), or displaying one's learning (as in questions designed to show others how well-read or thoughtful one is), etc.

Now, I would say there are no stupid questions, but there are bad questions: the dishonest questions.

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Asking an honest question is like telling the doctor your symptoms. If he is a good doctor, he will treat your illness. If he is a bad doctor, it would have been better if you never revealed your symptoms to him, because of the damage he may do in error.

In the same sense, while there are no stupid questions, there are those to whom it is not wise to ask honest questions.