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地獄
Lv 6
地獄 asked in Society & CultureEtiquette · 1 decade ago

Never ask a question that you don't already know the answer to?

Where did I hear that?

And does it really make any sense?

14 Answers

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  • 1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    I know who someone would say this. And yes, it does sound like a lawyer thing.

    Hower, the point of asking a question is to learn the answer to a question you don't know the answer to. And to get clarification, and to hear different angles, and to discuss.

  • 6 years ago

    The saying was made popular back in a 1960's television program called Burks Law, where he would say, “Never ask a question unless you already know the answer.”

  • 1 decade ago

    I'm sure you've heard this in a quote or a saying before. And yes, it does really make sense because some people ask questions that they know the answer to but would just like their beliefs about the answer confirmed by other people.

    Hope this Helped! :D

  • ?
    Lv 4
    4 years ago

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  • 5 years ago

    Harper Lee..To Kill a Mockingbird.....“Never, never, never, on cross-examination ask a witness a question you don't already know the answer to, was a tenet I absorbed with my baby-food.”

  • 1 decade ago

    I don't know where you heard it. But I do that, while there might be an aspect of etiquette to that approach, it does less to further ones own learning. Sure, the Socratic method is essentially based on that premise...but we are not always asking questions to teach. Sometimes we need to learn, right?

    Ah, and yes, trial lawyers do love the certainty they get from asking questions that way. However, there is still an uncertain aspect of how the responder will reply.

  • 1 decade ago

    Actually I believe that this happens that when you ask the question your mind has had a temporary memory loss and when the answer is given your memory is jolted into reality and that's when you realize you knew the answer.

    Source(s): Around my place it happens all the time(hubby does it all the time!)
  • 1 decade ago

    It's a standing rule among trial attorneys.

    And, oh yeah....it makes a lot of sense.

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    it's legal advice for lawyers asking question on the stand of someone that could embarrass their case

  • 8 years ago

    It is usually said to be the first rule of cross examination.

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