Ethan Chiu

Questing for Better Questions

10 Sep 2025

Questions vs. Answers

“It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question.”

This quote from playwright Eugène Ionesco highlights the profound value that questions provide. While getting answers may ease a temporary itch, it is the practice and skill of asking questions which truly educates and stimulates critical thinking. This is the core principle behind the Socratic method, a pedagogical technique named after the Greek philosopher Socrates, in which the teacher uses questions to stimulate deeper understanding and unravel complex ideas. The essence of both the above quote and the Socratic method is that true value doesn’t come from simply finding a solution, but rather it comes from the intellectual growth obtained from the process.

This principle is particularly important in the context of software engineering. In a field defined by constant evolution and an infinite well of problems to be solved, the ability to ask well-formed questions is crucial for efficient problem-solving, collaboration, and continuous learning. In his essay “How To Ask Questions The Smart Way,” Eric Steven Raymond provides dos and dont’s for asking effective technical questions. Here are some key takeaways:

Stack Overflow Case Studies

With these guidelines in mind, let’s examine two real-world questions asked on the popular Q&A website Stack Overflow:

A antonym(“smart”) question

Stack Overflow user UnkwnTech’s question, While vs. Do While, is an example of a not-so-smart question. In it, they ask whether there is a functional difference between “while” and “do-while” loops, and say the language they were using was PHP. This post violates the first step in asking a smart question: search, then ask. It’s clear that the author did not do their due diligence to search the question up before making their post since, with a quick Google search of the phrase “php do while,” the first result that popped up was the do-while - Manual by the PHP Foundation. This manual clearly explains the difference between the two loop types, meaning the poster could have saved both their own time, as well as the time of viewers and answerers.

A “smart” question

On the other hand, user Ramrab’s post How to install torch on MacOS (Intel) is a great example of a smart question that checks off many of the boxes that Raymond laid out. The title of the post is succinct and immediately explains the problem and operating system in question to potential answerers. In the body of the post, Ramrab precisely states the approach they have tried and the result, including specific commands run, exact error messages, and even an interpretation of those error messages. Finally, the user eliminates potential guesswork by listing the exact versions of the specific software tools they are using.

Conclusion

Comparing these two posts side-by-side shows the importance of how a question is asked. A well-crafted question is respectful of the community’s time, demonstrates due diligence, and promotes the effective exchange of knowledge. Reflecting on this, I realize that, at times, my questions have fallen short. By analyzing these examples, I have a clearer idea of what makes a question truly “smart,” and I strive to construct my future questions similarly.