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People say there is no such thing as a stupid question. And though in some situations—when starting a new job, for instance, or learning about a new subject at school—they’re right, some might argue that the statement doesn’t always ring true.

Take the questions on this list, for instance. Ranging from inquiries that are followed by a sudden realization just seconds after, to questions from people that remain untouched by such a realization, the list shows that some questions can be foolish after all. If you’re yet to make sure of it yourself, scroll down to browse said questions below, but do it at your own risk – they might evoke an impulsive facepalm or two.

Having put together a list of questions, Bored Panda had some questions, too, so we got in touch with two experts—author, public speaker, and expert in learning and development Hans M. Hirschi and Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education at Lakehead University, Dr. Tanya Kaefer—who were kind enough to answer them and share their thoughts on questions, learning, and knowledge. You can find their thoughts on the list below.

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    While they might all look foolish, not all of the questions on this list show that people lack knowledge, for instance. In some cases, what they lack is common sense, but, according to the experts, common sense is knowledge; to some extent, at least.

    “Having written a book titled ‘Common Sense’, I have strong feelings about this,” Hans M. Hirschi noted before delving deeper into what common sense is exactly. “To me, common sense is knowledge grounded in proven scientific research combined with personal experience. However, in everyday conversations, we often equate common sense with ‘gut feeling’ or what intuitively makes sense. That isn’t necessarily inaccurate—as long as there's an overlap between intuition and scientific reasoning.

    “Think of it like a Venn diagram, with common sense residing in the area where scientific knowledge and gut feeling intersect. So, the degree to which someone exhibits common sense depends on how much they rely on what they know from science in their area of expertise rather than, say, tea leaves,” he explained, adding that he’s more of a coffee person himself.

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    #5

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    dog pride
    Community Member
    1 day ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    me too buddy I also have no hope AFTER GOD DAMN TRUMP IS PRESIDENT( almost) AGAIN!!!! I'm so hopeless

    JoNo
    Community Member
    1 day ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I'm feeling sorrow and disgust at Trump becoming POTUS - and I am watching from afar as an Australian. Fun fact: It's against the law here for a convicted criminal to run for parliament.

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    OneWithRatsAndKefir
    Community Member
    1 day ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Technically, and I love being pedantic and sharing facts, sometimes women do have to. In most cases, it’s because babies where accidentally swapped at the hospital (or purposefully, as I faintly recall a case where a nurse purposefully swapped tens of babies until caught); in other cases, it’s because of chimerism.

    Kayleigh haigh
    Community Member
    22 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Also read an article on here the other day regarding a mum who was always told she was a good nanny as people assumed she was the nanny to her own kids as they had different colour she did the dna test as she had the child using IVF and wanted to make sure there wasn't a mix up but the baby is 100% hers

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    G A
    Community Member
    1 day ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Everyone who voted Trump, go and sit on the Naughty Step and think about what you've done. You can only leave when you are ready to apologise. We are all very disappointed in you. Yours, the rest of the World.

    Kayleigh haigh
    Community Member
    22 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    In this world with a few countries not allowing women the same privilege as men do you think other countries would take a female president serious half the other countries don't even take there peers serious let alone some1 they deem under them and this is comin from a woman men a fascist and dictators and would only criticise mock and humiliate a woman yeah I know there are some female leaders in the world there is multiple countries currently at war with each other do u think those countries would listen to a woman or do you think they would try to take over her and country too this is my opinion feel free to have your own im not on here to argue or debate just putting some of my opinions in whether they are correct or not I don't have all the facts but if I am produced with facts I will look at them and base my opinions on them whether they change or not remains to be seen

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    arthbach
    Community Member
    1 day ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    There have been times when mothers have been DNA tested to ensure the child/ren are theirs. "Lydia Fairchild was pregnant with her third child when she and the father of her children, Jamie Townsend, separated. When Fairchild applied for enforcement of child support in 2002, providing DNA evidence of Townsend's paternity was a routine requirement. While the results showed Townsend to certainly be their father, they seemed to rule out her being their mother." Her children were removed from her custody as they did not share the same DNA. The court appointed a person to witness the birth of the third baby. This baby's DNA matched the father, and siblings, but not the mother. The mother was later tested in other areas of her body, and found to be a match.

    Verfin22
    Community Member
    1 day ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    If she's a surrogate, the baby wouldn't have have moms DNA. Children are kidnapped by women thus needing a test. It does happen.

    David
    Community Member
    1 day ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    As apparently intended - DUMB. But there have been cases where women did take a DNA test. Not the "haha I'm not sure if I had a baby" aspect, but situations where two babies got switched at the hospital. But that's pretty rare.

    Andy Pandy
    Community Member
    1 day ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Yes dog pride, the world is going to $hit. Trump is this dumb also

    April Pickett
    Community Member
    1 day ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    When you start carrying the babies for 9 months, we'll take that DNA test you ask about.

    Sam Lin
    Community Member
    5 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    It is sad, but children trafficking is still a thing in some places of the world.

    Pablo Ramos
    Community Member
    16 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    A woman could claim a child is hers. 15 years after the baby was stolen from the cradle, and a young man was found. So... Joke is on you.

    Riley Quinn
    Community Member
    21 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I have to find another post. I'm already on the verge of buying a cinder block and walking over to the harbor bridge now that ignorance and hatred has been reelected, so I'm going to look for animal posts to soothe me.

    TiNaBoNiNa
    Community Member
    22 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    It really is sad that human anatomy is not a requirement in schools. Our children should learn how the body functions at least.

    Snowkit
    Community Member
    1 day ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Yes bc we r oblivious to the fact that we went through agonizing labor to see our child.🙄

    Michelle C
    Community Member
    1 day ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    LMAO....I got this thing where I say "you can't prove that" when family members are talking to me and start the sentence with "your daughter...."

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    Dr. Tanya Kaefer seconded the idea that common sense is very closely linked to knowledge. “Common sense is a bit of a misnomer,” she told Bored Panda. “What we refer to as common sense is really just pieces of knowledge that are known by many people in a group, and that are often learned without direct instruction. So how much common sense a person has generally means whether:

    1. they’ve encountered the opportunity to learn those pieces of knowledge,
    2. they were able to extract that knowledge from a situation without instruction, and
    3. that knowledge is consistent with the current context.

    “What I mean by that last part is that any group or culture has their own ‘common sense’ that outsiders to that group or culture may not know. So, for example, in Canada it's common sense to take your shoes off when you enter someone's house, so you don't track in mud and snow. In the US, it's common sense to leave your shoes on, so you aren't showing people your dirty feet. Two different cultures, two different versions of common sense.”

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    Though many people associate knowledge with school and academia, experts suggest that learning outside of the classroom is incredibly important, too. “What we learn in the classroom is only a fraction of what we need to learn to function,” Dr. Kaefer noted, adding that it's impossible to predict what knowledge will come in handy the most in the future, as the application of knowledge relies entirely on context.

    “It's not a matter of what we need to know, it's what we need to know for the situations we find ourselves in. To give you an example, my kindergarten teacher was really worried about my handwriting. My parents got called in for meetings about my handwriting. My handwriting is still terrible, but it turned out not to matter, because most work is done on computers. My kindergarten teacher couldn't have foreseen that - in her mind, a girl needed to be able to write legibly to ensure a paying job. As times change, the ‘important’ knowledge changes, which is why it's so important to maintain the ability and willingness to learn new things,” the expert suggested.

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    “Learning outside the classroom is essential,” Hirschi agreed. “While formal education is valuable, life itself is the ultimate teacher—this holds true for any subject. Scientific discoveries and practical skills often emerge outside of academic settings. Real-life application allows us to deepen our understanding and create new insights.”

    The expert continued to point out that while academia provides a solid foundation, there’s a wealth of practical knowledge that isn't necessarily covered there. “Think of life skills like traditional cleaning hacks, family recipes, or the way we fold clothes—things passed down through generations. These may not be scientifically optimized but often carry personal significance and memories, which can be just as meaningful as academic knowledge.”

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    It’s clear that knowledge and learning—both inside and outside of the classroom—play a significant role in people’s lives, and the messages they communicate. But sometimes, even the most knowledgeable of people might slip up and say or ask something completely foolish, only to realize how nonsensical it was after the fact. We asked the experts on why that is, and according to Hirschi, sometimes our mouths simply run faster than our brain does.

    “Often, a question lingers in our minds, and even if we can’t immediately recall the answer, our brain continues processing it. The answer can emerge when the right neurons fire, even if not instantly. This implies we either have the answer stored somewhere or can deduce it with some cognitive effort. Sometimes, the ‘aha’ moment happens within seconds, but it might also take hours—some people even wake up in the middle of the night with a sudden revelation!”

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    “When we are looking for the answer or logic to something, we're doing ‘retrieval,’ as in, we're retrieving information from long-term memory,” Dr. Kaefer noted, discussing why we sometimes need time to figure things out. “But retrieval can be a little odd. We have different pathways to the information, and what things will help prompt retrieval can be hard to predict. So sometimes, asking the question is the thing that allows us to retrieve the answer or the logic [behind something]. So as soon as we ask it, we remember the answer for ourselves.”

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    #19

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    Scarlett O'Hara's Ghost
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    1 day ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The first rule about tattoos is if you need anesthesia to get a tattoo, you're too much of a pu$$y to get a tattoo

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    While some people take a bit longer to figure out the logic or the answer behind something, Dr. Kaefer emphasized that we shouldn’t rush to judge them. And she has a point; after all, who hasn’t been in a situation where the brain took its sweet time “loading” something? (I know I sure have.)

    “I think common sense is largely overrated, and we can be gentler with people who are asking ‘dumb’ questions. At least they're asking! Better to be the person asking a dumb question than to be a person making an incorrect assumption,” she told Bored Panda.

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    #27

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    Scarlett O'Hara's Ghost
    Community Member
    1 day ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The answer is, especially if you live in an apartment building, that you should ask each one of your neighbors to get a general consensus. This way, after you tell them that you microwave your cats food, they can move somewhere else where the chances of their building being burnt down goes down dramatically

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    #38

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    Donkey boi
    Community Member
    1 day ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I wonder how many people in the US actually realise that the amendments are just that, amendments. Which means they can be amended again, and even repealed (looking at you 18th).

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    #41

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    Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het
    Community Member
    1 day ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Assuming he meant God, remember the time God apparently flooded the whole Earth, killing everyone and every land animal, except for one family and their floating zoo?

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    #46

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    Cat Palmer
    Community Member
    1 day ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Not a bad attempt at a foreign word (well, two words) that they've only heard said. I knew instantly what they meant, which is your language is for, after all.

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    #47

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    MuggedAtGunpoint Report

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    Vinnie
    Community Member
    1 day ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    True story from a white friend: bought a ghost costume for his kid. The top of the head came to a point. Then came the delicate task of explaining why it's not such a good costume after all.

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