My opinion is that, in almost all scenarios, if you have a question, you should always ask it. Why?
If this question occurred to you, it probably has occurred to many other people. Thus, there is likely to be general interest.
The speaker (or author) has the opportunity to share more of his expertise, even if he is not about directly answering the question [this one is very underrated; I’ve had a lot of interesting conversations develop from seemingly foolish questions]
This gives the author the chance to explain his perspective more clearly. Your question may have implicit assumptions that the author rejects; this gives him the opportunity to state what his assumptions were (and thus, his frame of reference)
It allows a dialogue to happen between author and reader, which may result in even more insights (if you have a format in which this is allowed, such as a discussion board)
You will invariably have a slightly different perspective to the author. Two perspectives clashing result in interesting ideas
If the author forgot to write something down that he wanted to say, it gives him the opportunity to state that
The author may wrongly assume certain background knowledge. If your question indicates that his assumption was wrong, he has the opportunity to back up and explain it.
It makes the whole conversation a lot more interesting and engaging, it emboldens others to join it and contribute as well.
Foolish questions are especially useful, as they address the basic concepts of a subject. This is a lot more important than expert question if you want to get a coherent view of it.
The answer provided by the author will ALSO be helpful and beneficial to the other students / listeners / readers. By making him expand on his topic, you are benefiting everyone [also very underrated!]
Authors are often passionate about the topic they are writing or talking about. Giving them the opportunity to talk more about it, or to challenge them with difficult questions, or to ask things that they have never been asked before is something they, too, deeply appreciate.
As long as you stay within reasonable (context-dependent) limits (for example, you should not be the only one asking basic questions while everybody else looks bored) -- you should ALWAYS ask questions. It is definitely worth overcoming the fear of looking foolish. There is nothing more sad than somebody giving a talk and nobody asking follow-up questions. I mean, why not?
My opinion is that, in almost all scenarios, if you have a question, you should always ask it. Why?
If this question occurred to you, it probably has occurred to many other people. Thus, there is likely to be general interest.
The speaker (or author) has the opportunity to share more of his expertise, even if he is not about directly answering the question [this one is very underrated; I’ve had a lot of interesting conversations develop from seemingly foolish questions]
This gives the author the chance to explain his perspective more clearly. Your question may have implicit assumptions that the author rejects; this gives him the opportunity to state what his assumptions were (and thus, his frame of reference)
It allows a dialogue to happen between author and reader, which may result in even more insights (if you have a format in which this is allowed, such as a discussion board)
You will invariably have a slightly different perspective to the author. Two perspectives clashing result in interesting ideas
If the author forgot to write something down that he wanted to say, it gives him the opportunity to state that
The author may wrongly assume certain background knowledge. If your question indicates that his assumption was wrong, he has the opportunity to back up and explain it.
It makes the whole conversation a lot more interesting and engaging, it emboldens others to join it and contribute as well.
Foolish questions are especially useful, as they address the basic concepts of a subject. This is a lot more important than expert question if you want to get a coherent view of it.
The answer provided by the author will ALSO be helpful and beneficial to the other students / listeners / readers. By making him expand on his topic, you are benefiting everyone [also very underrated!]
Authors are often passionate about the topic they are writing or talking about. Giving them the opportunity to talk more about it, or to challenge them with difficult questions, or to ask things that they have never been asked before is something they, too, deeply appreciate.
As long as you stay within reasonable (context-dependent) limits (for example, you should not be the only one asking basic questions while everybody else looks bored) -- you should ALWAYS ask questions. It is definitely worth overcoming the fear of looking foolish. There is nothing more sad than somebody giving a talk and nobody asking follow-up questions. I mean, why not?
Nice list :) I hope people do keep things like this in mind.
And the list is not exhaustive by any means. I really think this is a no-brainer.