"Time for another lesson! This time, I'm here to teach about the difference between trick questions, and rhetorical questions, and details about them that people often either misinterpret or misunderstand."
"Let us start with the difference; rhetorical questions aren't so much a question, but rather a statement posed as one. Their 'answer' isn't needed - or more commonly, implied - because of that. It's not the best example, but an idea of one would be 'is sand made of rock?' as that's commonly what people know sand to be made of. Trick questions are similar, but not the same."
"How aren't they the same? While rhetorical questions often aren't meant to be answered, trick questions lead you to complicated answers, if not just outright incorrect ones. In this, they both require the mind to pay attention and think. They are meant to, hopefully, get your brain working. But how and why you'd use them, as well as how people are meant to respond to them, are in opposite directions.
"Now, one thing people often misunderstand about trick questions is that a question doesn't become a trick question by giving only wrong answers. That's to say, if I ask you what 5 plus 4 is and only present you with wrong answers, that's not a trick question. That's just being wrong! That being said, wrong answers being present won't make a trick question stop being one. A well crafted trick question can get anyone, even those who's ego rides on being of 'higher learning'. And something people misunderstand about rhetorical questions has to do with why my example wasn't the best; they aren't great for spur of the moment things. If someone asks you a question where, to you, the only answer is yes, and you respond with something like my example things can get messy fast. It's still a rhetorical question, but by using them as a response you've become sarcastic - even if you didn't mean it as such - and depending on the circumstances, meanspirited. Now not to contradict myself, but something people misinterpret about rhetorical questions is that they are meant to be used as a form of sarcasm. It's why an answer isn't needed, and or is implied, and how using it to respond makes you become sarcastic. Now, as with any communication tool, these aren't hard, fast, and always applicable. Language is malleable, and certain groups can have entirely different communication standards and meanings, and treat both types of questions differently. And that's part of the fun, and challenge, of talking to people!
"With that, class is done for the day. Hopefully I didn't bore anyone with this. Hope to see everyone next time as well."
