Opus 2022-139: Q and A, Part 1, the Q

I have heard Eric Metaxas joke during his Q/A times that he prefers true/false questions.  There are times when I would agree with that.

We all have our Q/A times.  Some live in them perpetually.  Others manage to avoid them for extended periods.  There are many types of questions and they often depend on the personality of the inquisitor as much as the desired information.  

Some questions are true/false.  You might think of them as yes/no.  There is really no middle ground.  Do you want cream in your coffee?  Are you pregnant?  Then there are the questions that used to be rhetorically true that have morphed into rhetorically false like “Is the Pope a Catholic?”

Some questions are multiple choice.  We need to admit that often the choices are not limited to two no matter how simple the request is intended.  Think of a menu when you go out to eat.  You have to make choices.  Even when you select an item, such as a steak instead of Brussel sprouts you still need to decide how you want it cooked and if you want it covered in sauteed mushrooms.  You say you want to major in music?  What style or instrument?  One of my favorites when I was a teacher was whether I wanted to be hung, shot or starved to death.  I was never actually asked that but the attitude was the same.

It can get more complex than that.

Some questions are short answer.  Some questions are essays.  Often the essay questions start as true/false, expand to multiple choice and end up being a long drawn-out journey down memory lane.  I generally don’t ask my wife where the salad tongs are because I want to eat the salad before the lettuce wilts.  If I can’t find them myself I will use a couple of forks, or, if no one is looking, my hands.  

Some questions are rhetorical.  Is it possible any more to be a Democrat and a patriotic American?  Should Hillary be in Jail?  You know the kind of thing I am talking about.  

To be concluded...

homo unius libri