Of Questions & Answers

One way of seeing it, there are two types of questions: Those that seek answers, and those that do not. The latter is called as a rhetorical question.

Rhetorics serve to bring an intended ambience as the background of one's speech. Used awfully a lot in (political) speeches and debates, they ask the painfully obvious - such as "Do we want to see the day our own children live in fear?" or "Do we need another wave of corruptions seeded by Mr. So-and-so?" - and the audience, depending on their level of enthusiasm and consciousness, may feel compelled to shout or mumble out their answers.

Rhetorical questions remind the speaker and the listener that the communication is, in fact, two-ways. Thus the listener's attention is returned to the topic at hand if s/he happened to be straying, and the speaker gets a false feeling that he is not talking to himself and that his listener is still with him.

Continuing on. There are, generally speaking, three types of answers - the correct, the wrong, and the inbetween ('coz life isn't always black and white).

...So what do you say - or expected to say - in response to a rhetorical question that is meant to lighten up the mood? Would you go with a straight "yes" or "no" answer (regardless of your knowledge on the matter) or an inbetween answer?

...I hope to God I didn't sound like a smart aleck in giving my two cents. I probably should have said something safer like "What is routinely done?" (although some people might get irked in getting another question instead of a proper answer...).

...I hope she's not suffering too much because of what I had suggested.

...I _think_ he was not offended.

...I _really_ need to concentrate on the happy bits instead of lamenting too much on the hiccups, which possibly could be nothing at all.

*Headdesk*

Current Music: Kimi ni Negai wo - Miyavi

P/s: Gosh, starting Year 4 in Community Medicine? Ah, well, at least it's not Orthopedics... Hopefully it'll be a nice ride, under the surveillance and guidance of Mrs. Boss-dude, and I'll finally(?) be able to study like a good student should be...haha.

P/p/s: Photoshop = major headache. Why, oh, WHY!!??