If you have an interesting factoid to impart, it's common and instinctive to do so in the form of a semi-rhetorical question, whether the fact is interesting itself, or you think the puzzle of the question is interesting, or because you want to teach somebody.
I thought about this in the context of conveying interesting general knowledge factoids in casual conversation (QI does something similar "How many states are there in the USA? Not 50!"), but it might also apply to puzzles-for-the-sake-of-it ("A man lies dead in an empty field with an unopened backpack on his back. How did he die?"), or even if you're trying to teach someone something ("Suppose I did this. What would happen?")
However, for this to work, it's important that the recipient focuses on the area of the desired factoid and doesn't try to answer the question too generally. Else you get conversations like this:
Q. A man lies dead in an empty field with an unopened backpack on his back. How did he die?
A. Umm... no obvious clues? Then a heart attack is most likely.
Q. No! No! It's not a heart attack.
A. I don't see why not.
Q. It's just no, OK?
A. OK, then a stroke. Or maybe liver failure.
There's four obvious methods of doing so:
(1) Phrase the question exactly, such to rule out any "undesired" answers from its field of interest as best as possible, and admit the "desired" answer only. "A man lies dead in an empty field with an unopened backpack on his back. The backpack caused his death. How?"
(2) Come out and say that the question is looking for a specific answer which may not be the most literal one. Allow the recipient to narrow it down. "Good question! No, it's not any sort of hidden illness. Yes, the backpack is relevant. Etc."
(3) Indicate with tone of voice and body language that the question is looking for a specific answer which may not be the most literal one. "OK, see if you can figure this one out."
(4) Hope for the best, and if the recipient doesn't give the answer you want, shout "NO, THAT'S NOT RIGHT" at them until they do. (See above.)
You can probably tell from my phrasing that I prefer (1) and (2). Even though (3) and (4) work perfectly well with people who know each other well enough to know what's going on.
So, I guess my point is, if you give people interesting questions, and they keep missing the point, consider trying to say what you want from them. And if people keep asking questions you don't get, try to work out what they probably _meant_ to ask.
And I personally take it very very badly when I answer a question correctly and someone shouts "NO! NO!", but conversely, that's a very natural way of saying "that's not what I wanted from you" as opposed to "that's literally incorrect" :)
I thought about this in the context of conveying interesting general knowledge factoids in casual conversation (QI does something similar "How many states are there in the USA? Not 50!"), but it might also apply to puzzles-for-the-sake-of-it ("A man lies dead in an empty field with an unopened backpack on his back. How did he die?"), or even if you're trying to teach someone something ("Suppose I did this. What would happen?")
However, for this to work, it's important that the recipient focuses on the area of the desired factoid and doesn't try to answer the question too generally. Else you get conversations like this:
Q. A man lies dead in an empty field with an unopened backpack on his back. How did he die?
A. Umm... no obvious clues? Then a heart attack is most likely.
Q. No! No! It's not a heart attack.
A. I don't see why not.
Q. It's just no, OK?
A. OK, then a stroke. Or maybe liver failure.
There's four obvious methods of doing so:
(1) Phrase the question exactly, such to rule out any "undesired" answers from its field of interest as best as possible, and admit the "desired" answer only. "A man lies dead in an empty field with an unopened backpack on his back. The backpack caused his death. How?"
(2) Come out and say that the question is looking for a specific answer which may not be the most literal one. Allow the recipient to narrow it down. "Good question! No, it's not any sort of hidden illness. Yes, the backpack is relevant. Etc."
(3) Indicate with tone of voice and body language that the question is looking for a specific answer which may not be the most literal one. "OK, see if you can figure this one out."
(4) Hope for the best, and if the recipient doesn't give the answer you want, shout "NO, THAT'S NOT RIGHT" at them until they do. (See above.)
You can probably tell from my phrasing that I prefer (1) and (2). Even though (3) and (4) work perfectly well with people who know each other well enough to know what's going on.
So, I guess my point is, if you give people interesting questions, and they keep missing the point, consider trying to say what you want from them. And if people keep asking questions you don't get, try to work out what they probably _meant_ to ask.
And I personally take it very very badly when I answer a question correctly and someone shouts "NO! NO!", but conversely, that's a very natural way of saying "that's not what I wanted from you" as opposed to "that's literally incorrect" :)