I am particularly fond of the framing that among “hackers” the value of a question is presumed to be in what it teaches. The authors don’t say this explicitly, but this contrasts sharply with the wider culture in which the value of a question is presumed to be in that it increases the status of the person being asked (whether they can answer it or not). Much of the intercultural communication failure around asking and answering questions can be traced back to that.
Eric S. Raymond and Rick Moen make a very similar point in How to Ask Questions the Smart Way.
That’s a lovely essay; thanks for the pointer.
I am particularly fond of the framing that among “hackers” the value of a question is presumed to be in what it teaches. The authors don’t say this explicitly, but this contrasts sharply with the wider culture in which the value of a question is presumed to be in that it increases the status of the person being asked (whether they can answer it or not). Much of the intercultural communication failure around asking and answering questions can be traced back to that.