Jewish Pedagogy: On Asking Stupid Questions
Some say "there's no such thing as a stupid question." In this article I explain why I disagree, why I think such a message is detrimental for students, and what our Mesorah teaches as an alternative.
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Jewish Pedagogy: On Asking Stupid Questions
I have heard many a high school student preface their question with: “This is a stupid question, but …” Invariably, this triggers another student to chime in with: “There’s no such thing as a stupid question!” To this I would respond: “Of course there are stupid questions, but according to Judaism, you should ask them anyway.”
Chazal teach: “lo ha’basyhan lomeid” (“one who is ashamed cannot learn”) (Avos 2:5). Rabbeinu Yonah explains:
The trait of bushah (shamefacedness) is good in all matters except in learning, as we find in the statement: “I will speak of Your testimonies before kings, and I will not be ashamed” (Tehilim 119:46), for when Dovid fled the presence of Shaul and stood before the non-Jewish kings, he was not ashamed to speak about Torah and mitzvos, even though they ridiculed and mocked his words. Shame is not good in learning. A student should not say, “How can an idiot like me ask something in the presence of one who is wise and great in Torah, who has such an analytical mind, when I have neither knowledge nor understanding?” If this is his policy for all the days, from where will his wisdom come? This is what the Sages, the ethical masters, said in the book Mivchar ha’Peninim: “You should most definitely ask stupid questions …” (1:43).
On the simplest level, a student who follows the directive to “ask stupid questions” will learn more than one who doesn’t. This point is emphasized by the Meiri: “one should always ask questions in chochmah and not be ashamed of the deficiencies of his question, since a question is a pathway to knowledge, as the wise man said, ‘[when it comes to matters] of chochmah, ask stupid questions” (Beis ha’Bechirah, Shabbos 30b). Moreover, the Rashbatz – basing himself on the same Mivchar ha’Peninim as Rabbeinu Yonah and Meiri – notes that “when [a student] says, ‘If I ask about this thing, they’ll mock me!’ then he will remain with his doubts” (Magen Avos, 2:5). These remaining doubts will put the student at risk of future embarrassment, either when their ignorance is exposed or when these festering doubts give rise to errors in their learning, which will continue to compound.
But there is a more fundamental reason why “ask stupid questions” is a superior pedagogical principle: because it promotes intellectual independence, courage, and antifragility. Students know that there is such a thing as a “stupid question,” no matter how vociferously they are assured to the contrary. Even if a teacher succeeds in sheltering their students from feelings of shame within the safety of the classroom, the world will not afford them this protection. Therefore, teachers perform a disservice to their students by shielding them from such feelings of shame, especially if they do so from a young age. Instead, they should help their students develop the ability to persevere in their quest for knowledge despite feelings of awkwardness, self-consciousness, and even humiliation. This point is underscored by Rabbeinu Yonah’s choice to lead with the example of Dovid ha’Melech. Dovid’s lack of bushah in front of the gentile kings doesn’t illustrate how such shamelessness enables a person to acquire wisdom; rather, Dovid exemplifies the ideal of an independent thinker who is so secure in his dedication to truth that he is entirely unaffected by the disapproval of his most esteemed peers. This quality can be fostered by showing students that it’s natural and okay to feel bushah, and that such feelings are not, in and of themselves, harmful. The only way we can be harmed by such feelings is if we allow them to become obstacles to our chochmah-seeking, and the most surefire way to do that is to suppress our questions. In my own high school classroom, I endeavored to make it a badge of honor to ask stupid questions by noting the bravery of the students who asked them and by pointing out how the most basic questions tend to yield the most fundamental insights.
The Yiddish proverb attributed to R' Chayim Soloveitchik, “fun a kashye shtarbt men nisht” (“you don’t die from a question”), is generally taken to mean, “it’s okay to remain with unanswered questions.” Perhaps we can tweak the proverb by adding a word: “fun a narisher kashye shtarbt men nisht” (“you don’t die from a stupid question”).
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