"**The questions we ask help us build our own map of the other person’s perspective . . . but the resolution, color, and sharpness of the picture is based on how well our questions draw out surprising information from the answerer**. A bad question not only gets lower-resolution answers but also squanders an opportunity to create a space that the other person feels comfortable sharing into. **In real life, we’re not trying to sink a person’s battleship but to understand them**. We’re trying to create a map of a person’s full set of beliefs, motivations, and knowledge. In real life, we can ask any question we want and aren’t stuck with only yes-or-no questions. It’s amazing to have a chance to peek into someone’s belief systems and memories, a treasure trove wasted by a bad question." (~[Location 1790](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B081J97HLQ&location=1790)~) -- [[202308180914 — AtN — Asking questions can be a superpower]], [[202308181107 — AtN — Staying calm within disagreements can be a superpower]] , [[202308170954 — AtN — Productive disagreement can be a superpower]] *** **Tags** — [[quotes]], [[asking-questions]], [[listening]], [[empathy]], [[diversity]], [[juicy-sentences]], **Source** — [[202308170952 — B — Why Are We Yelling]]