Asking rhetorical questions as a way to explain something makes you sound condescending, amirite?

What if the metaphor is relevant to illustrate a gap in the logic?

by Anonymous 6 days ago

wtf are you even trying to say, I had a stroke reading this. Is this supposed to be humor?

by Anonymous 6 days ago

You are talking about using rhetorical questions as pedagogical method or strategy. That is not at all what OP is talking about. And I would disagree with you on whether it's objectively one of the best pedagogical techniques. It can come across as condescending even when you posing the question to a group of students. I avoid doing this when lecturing. It is condescending to "actively assume" students are not also raising these questions in their minds. The person who asks the rhetorical question is a dick if they believe they can assume correctly what the other person is or is not thinking. So, OP is right. Rhetorical questions in any setting lean towards condescension.

by Anonymous 6 days ago

Two things. Most conversations, online or IRL, are not meant to teach people anything. When I'm having a conversation with you, I don't want you to even think you can teach me anything. Why do you think that is? It is because I'm your peer, not your student. Rhetorical questions are not and have never been meant to be a teaching tool. The idea is mostly to force the conversation to go in the direction you want it to go. Why do you think lawyers use them in their arguments? Why do you think rhetorical questions are a common tactic in debates?

by Anonymous 6 days ago

Can you share an actual example? I have no idea what you're trying to say

by Anonymous 6 days ago

"Ryan, the email was sent on the 14th. How do I know this? I'm also copied on the email." Can't you just say "I know this because I'm also copied on the email"?

by Jordonhettinger 6 days ago

Exactly, most rhetorical questions are not condescending.

by Anonymous 6 days ago

Right? The example in the OP "What do I mean by this?" Just sounds like a little beat by a professor or lecturer. I've never taken something like that as condescending.

by Anonymous 6 days ago

Ryan doesn't like it when people remind him he is not as sмаrt as he thinks he is. How do I know this? He came here to rant about people doing it.

by Anonymous 6 days ago

This example sounds like it's intentionally condescending, which it can be. But hypotheticals in general aren't all condescending.

by Anonymous 6 days ago

It was good enough for Socrates.

by Anonymous 6 days ago

It wasn't. His questions weren't rhetorical, they are actually meant to be answered.

by Anonymous 6 days ago

And Socrates sometimes comes across as a dick.

by Anonymous 6 days ago

Tell me you don't understand philosophy without telling me you don't understand philosophy

by HonestTechnology668 6 days ago

This is up there with the most annoying phrases on the internet.

by Anonymous 6 days ago

Enlighten us, guru

by Embarrassed-Lake1522 6 days ago

So what you're saying is be patronising to avoid the unlikely senario that someone THINKS you're being patronising. Makes sense?

by Anonymous 6 days ago

That's not being patronizing

by Rude-Leader-5354 6 days ago

Oh wow your So smart!

by Anonymous 6 days ago

Neither are rhetorical questions.

by Anonymous 6 days ago

This is why Socrates was killed

by Weekly-Cantaloupe 6 days ago

True, but to be fair, most people require condescention

by No-Technician 6 days ago

Wtf? No

by Rude-Leader-5354 6 days ago