Over the past weekend, I had the pleasure of attending a conference on race and religion. There were a number of interesting panels and insightful conversations. However, since it was held at an Ivy league institution, it brought with it a large number of blowhards. To be sure, I’m talking about the attendees.

I’m familiar with the types of questions that Ivy leaguers like to make. I’ve had a colloquial term for basic schools and how they ask questions for a while but I’ve never really interacted with Harvard students as much as during this conference. There’s a world of difference between, say, Yale and Harvard.

I define a “Yale” question as a question wherein an individual expounds on a particular situation, book, poem, lecture, or other reference up to the point of near exhaustion before asking a question that is related to the current discussion. Many times, this question is tangential but more often it is directly related. Of course, not all questions from Yale students and alumni are like this, but in my experience it tends to be the norm.

The “Harvard” question, however, is quite different. Again, I’m making a generalization of an observed (and therefore not factual) trend. I’m sure not all Harvard students and alumni do this. However, at the conference, the questions asked by those affiliated with Harvard were exhausting. Many times, the patience of the moderator was exceeded and the questioner was asked to get to the point. More often than not, there was no real point or question. It was merely a long winded statement of that person’s particular interest or field of study that was followed by asking the panel for comments or opinions.

I hate both kinds of questions (but especially the “Harvard” question). They waste the time of everyone, especially the panelists. I’m of the general opinion that if a question cannot be stated with sufficient introduction in under 5 sentences, it isn’t the type of question that should be asked to panelists or in a shared setting. Also, questions should directly address the material presented and the presenter’s expertise. In the case of panel discussions, the shorter and more direct questions are always the better questions. They invite discussion and focus the attention of the panelists.

I’m sure that it’s unfair to single out Yale and Harvard but both of these types of questions are based on my experience. I’m curious of certain schools train their students to ask questions in a particular manner (or perhaps a particular type of person is admitted to these schools).

Simple - Do you have any experiences or observances on how questions are asked in certain settings?
Yale style - Given the first two paragraphs, do you have any opinions on questions?
Harvard style - Given everything that I’ve just said, comments?