[scubbo]

> Asking the question just means you have no idea what you're saying. Or in other words, it's a stupid question.

So, to be clear, you're saying that the only kind of question that isn't stupid is the one where the querent already has perfect knowledge of the discipline?

[thaumasiotes]

I'm saying that to avoid asking a stupid question, you need to know the meaning of your own question. Stringing words together at random isn't going to get you there.

Compare the famous anecdote from Charles Babbage:

On two occasions I have been asked, -- "Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?" [...] I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question.

Is it necessary to have perfect knowledge of the workings of the Difference Engine to avoid asking that question? Of course not. Any knowledge at all would do the trick. If you put gravel into a water mill instead of grain, will you still get flour out of it?