[jkjvedul] Socratic method

Reporters, for example at a presidential press conference, ask stupid questions, either because the reporter is genuinely stupid or in an attempt to trick the speaker ("Have you stopped beating your wife?") This does not help the public.

What if, in the questions portion of a press conference, the Socratic Method were used? The speaker asks the questions, and the reporters answer them, possibly based on the information given by the speaker before the questions portion. As is the true Socratic Method, wrong answers yield further questions whose answers make clear the wrongness of the first answer.

The speaker can keep score on which reporters answer correctly, and invite back to future press conferences those who do. The goal is to keep the reporters capable of intelligent conversation, and weed out those who aren't. An intelligent conversation maximizes the quality of information dissemination to the public, which is the ultimate goal.

Perhaps only the high scoring reporters are permitted to ask questions following the Socratic Method portion, reverting to the traditional format where the reporters ask questions.

Testifying before Congress has a similar silly feel to it, with the senators and representatives often talking more than the person being questioned. Perhaps the Socratic Method should be deployed there, too.

It becomes an opportunity for we constituents can see whether we elected an idiot.

There needs to be a moderator to keep the questions relevant.