Yes, these days it seems it is nearly always a good question, even the dumb ones. “That is a good question!” seems to have become the standard response when someone in authority or in the know is asked a question.
I hear it all the time. (Very often on CBC radio. Canadians are generally a polite crowd and folks who are part of the CBC listening community, especially so.)
It started with politicians a couple of decades or so ago. As a response, it gave them time to think and sounded as though they really were listening. Then they would answer with what they wanted to tell you anyway about their actions and policy. “But that’s now what I asked!” you would be justified in saying.
But times have changed. Sorry to sound cynical but we have just come through a federal election campaign. I notice that the politicians have more or less abandoned the “good question” response and just go straight to why you should vote for them and how awful the opposition is.
Now this abandonment of the good question response by the political class, means it has been liberated into the general population, and we have embraced it! All is brilliant, clever and good and used abundantly by teachers of all kinds, sportspeople, gardening experts, cooks, business people, health experts et al.
I think it often is a good question. Are we as a society becoming more aware and emboldened to ask the right and pertinent questions? If so, that is wonderful.
Our questions may be good and pertinent, but life at the moment does not seem to have very good answers to hand:
Why are people dumping on the health care workers to protest Covid’s safety measures?
Why, though we have known about many issues around environmental and climate change for over a century, can we not face the issues?
Why do people prefer to die rather than get a vaccine?
These are reasonable, good, even interesting and scary questions. Now, could we work on the actions for the good answers? That is a challenge.
Post-script: from the kids:
“What does the tooth fairy do with all those teeth?
Apparently, she eats them…..oh my.