[EvanAnderson]

It's definitely not a silly question. I shared it because I really enjoyed the image that came to my mind when it happened.

It was a formative experience for me, too. I try really, really hard to explain terms-of-art to my audience if I'm unsure of their familiarity. "Reading the room" can be difficult sometimes so I try to always preface w/ "Stop me if you know this already...".

I also learned not to be afraid to speak up when terminology isn't familiar to me. I've no doubt that's made me look ill-informed in some situations. I'll always take the judgement of others re: my knowledge vs. acting on a bad assumption later.

There are consequences (sometimes significant ones) from assuming somebody knows what you're talking about. People who act like they understand something when they don't (either because they're afraid to ask, or because they don't know they don't understand) are dangerous.

[AdamJacobMuller]

> The tour guide had to awkwardly answer

That bit made me think otherwise.

> I also learned not to be afraid to speak up when terminology isn't familiar to me.

100% agreed. I don't care much if others think I'm stupid. I care about actually being educated and understanding the situation. If someone thinks me asking questions makes me stupid, I'm probably better off with them thinking that and avoiding me for it :)

[EvanAnderson]

> > The tour guide had to awkwardly answer

> That bit made me think otherwise.

I could have phrased that better. It was clearly awkward for the tour guide. I think the guide could have handled it in a less awkward way— maybe with some humor.

I found it amusing by way of the image it created in my mind, but that shouldn’t be taken as me discouraging others asking questions.