The Power of Questions

Everyone knows the importance of the basic questions: who, what, when, where, why, how. The skill of asking the right questions can be even more important than the answers themselves.

Beyond the basic questions, there are some important questions that every man should be asking others, or asking himself:

"Or what?"

Situation: Somebody, whether it be your boss, your teacher, a policeman, some dude on the street, or even society, tells you to do something. This is how you challenge their authority. It doesn't always have to be asked out loud, but at the very least, you should be asking yourself this question and coming up with an answer that satisfies you.

You should also be prepared to answer this question when it is asked of you, or answer it before the question is asked (e.g. get out now or I will call the police).

Example 1: TRP can be seen as a giant "OR WHAT?" to society.

Society: You'd better be a good beta, keep your head down, never question the feminine imperative, get married, have kids, and produce plenty of excess resources for your wife/family/society.

You: Or what?

Society: Or...you'll have a lot of free time to hit the gym and develop your own interests and both women and men will probably respect you and be envious of you.

You: Hmmm...

Society: You must date women your own age.

40 year old man: Or what?

Society: Or...you'll have sex with fertile young women, some of whom prefer older men. Older women will shame you, older men will admire you.

40 year old man: Hmm....

Example 2: You can use "or what?" to compare consequences of different challenges to authority. Here, I'm paraphrasing the fable of a famous Chinese uprising.

Officer: The weather's been bad and we've been held up so we're going to be late for out rendezvous with the commander.

Officer #2: We'd better not be.

Officer: Or what?

Officer #2: According to Qin law, the penalty is death.

Officer: Then we should start a rebellion.

Officer #2: We'd better not.

Officer: Or what?

Officer #2: According to Qin law, the penalty is death.

Officer: Hmm....

Result: Dazexiang Uprising and the fall of the Qin dynasty.

"What are you going to do about it?"

Situation: You've done or said something and someone either looks offeneded or directly tells you to rectify the situation. This is how you challenge them. Again, it doesn't have to be asked out loud, in fact it is not a question that is often verbalized.

Even more importantly, you should also be prepared to answer this question when it is asked of you - see Example 1.

Example 1: Every shit test has a silent "What are you going to do about it?" at the end if it.

Woman: That man over there is hot, so I'm going to leave you and flirt with him. (What are you going to do about it?)

You: Have fun, I'm going to flirt with the lovely barmaid.

Woman: Hmm....

Example 2: After World War I, the Rhineland was designated as a demilitarized zone by the Treaty of Versailles. The Germans governed it but were not allowed to keep troops there. This was a serious issue of wounded pride for the Germans.

In 1936, Hitler decided to move troops into the Rhineland to test British and French resolve but he was so afraid of the French military that he ordered his commanders to pull out their troops at the slightest sign of French response. Hitler later said, "If France had then marched into the Rhineland, we would have had to withdraw with our tails between our legs."

Hitler: I violated the Treaty of Versailles. What are you going to do about it?

French: We're kind of busy now.

British: No big deal, it's your territory anyway.

Hitler: Hmm...

Result: World War II as we know it.

Example 3: You can also ask this question when someone has wronged you and you’re asking them to rectify the situation. This example comes from Glenngary Glen Ross.

Ricky Roma: You stupid fucking cunt. You, Williamson, I'm talking to you, shithead. You just cost me $6,000. Six thousand dollars, and one Cadillac. That's right. What are you going to do about it? What are you going to do about it, asshole?

"So what?"/"What's wrong with that?"

Situation: Someone is trying to shame you or tell you why something is bad, but relies on a unstated common assumption that has no real backing. This is how you challenge them.

Example 1: You'll see a lot of feminists, religious leaders, and SJWs (and to be fair, many others) playing the "I was offended" card. After watching Steve Hughes's take on being offended, you'll see that it is often used as a shaming tactic to silence dissent.

Person: I was offended! I was offended and I have rights!

Steve Hughes: Well so what, be offended, nothing happened. You’re an adult, grow up, and deal with it.

Example 2: Maddox's "so what?" is put to effective use in his rant on the feminist outrage directed towards a particular variant of a Spider Woman comic book.

Maddox: For the record, there’s nothing inherently sexual about the variant cover. And even if there were, so what?! What’s wrong with having a sexual character? Over 47% of comic book fans are female, so people who suggest that it might alienate women are being condescending pricks. The most popular piece of fiction among women in years was 50 Shades of Grey, an erotic novel. By constantly bitching about this horseshit, you’re conditioning people into treating sex like it’s something degrading and shameful. It’s not!

Example 3: An example from TRP itself, titled "Woman laments her BF of 4 years doesn't seem to want the legal marital contract. TwoXChromosomes comes up with a marvellous answer."

TwoX poster: Just ran this by my boyfriend who said - "Literally the only reason I can think of for being a dude being willing to go through a ceremony, have a family, and stay living together without a marriage is because he wants the option to cut and run with minimal hassle."

TRP poster (who deleted his replies): And what the fuck is wrong with that?

Basically this TRP poster gave a big "so what?" to the idea of cutting and running with minimal hassle - because a man should stay with his family because he loves and cherishes his wife and kids, not because men with guns are standing outside his door forcing him to be her slave.

For more examples of the power of questions, see Tony Benn and the Five Essential Questions of Democracy.

  • “What power have you got?”
  • “Where did you get it from?”
  • “In whose interests do you use it?”
  • “To whom are you accountable?”
  • “How do we get rid of you?”

EDIT: Added Glenngary Glen Ross example.