Stupid Questions

I decided to hold off on presenting my cornerstone Point-to-Time Ratio Theorem to build suspense. Instead, I will debunk a myth that is dear to my heart. The myth: there are no such thing as stupid questions. The truth:

Many questions are, in fact, very stupid (Theorem 1)
In discussing this fact, I am mostly referring to questions asked in a classroom setting.
Stupid questions include but are not limited to:

1) Questions asked simply to show off your intelligence. These are usually asked by the same person and it is incredibly easy to spot this person (there's always at least one). No one listens to the answers to these questions becuase no one cares. Not even the person who asks the question cares. Nevertheless, they ask these questions and annoy us all.If you want to show off your intelligence to a professor, which you very well might, you should ask these "questions" at office hours. Waste the professor's time not students that actually want to learn.
2) Questions asked for the sake of asking a question. These questions are usually a result of "participation points" where students are required or encouraged to ask the class questions. By their very nature, these questions are stupid. The asker again does not care about the answer and no one wants to answer them. Interestingly enough, however, if a teacher were to ask these questions to the class, they would not necessarily be stupid. This is because they would be asked to encourage thinking, which is entirely different purpose than for the simple sake of asking a question.

Some of the best questions are actually the ones asked when the asker already knows the answer. Good questions are the ones that help others as well as yourself. If you know the answer to a question but you know others are confused, a great question-asker would ask that question. Also, if you know the answer to a question is especially important, a good question-asker would ask or even re-ask that question to make sure the information is re-iterated.

There is nothing more annoying than a stupid question being asked, but on the other hand, there's nothing I appreciate more than a well-thoughtout, purposeful question.