Why? - A Silly Question

The question Why is a silly question.

It is a noise made by people who have a hidden thought in mind unexpressed.

Those thoughts include:

- I don't undertsand X. But, I want to understand X.
- I don't have enough information to evaluate X. I will try and gain more information.
- X must have a cause. So I will seek to find out that cause.
- I don't know the reason behind X being said, so I will seek to know that reason.
- Someone said X. I want to know how they arrived at X.

These are better questions, but are hidden by the lazy propensity in our language use to represent them all with a single word inflected on speech, Why?

It is with this use of the term Why as a question that often demands from the respondent the very same question: Why do you ask? What do you mean, Why? Why what?

This conversation becomes quite silly, but the point of the respondent is that they don't have enough information to answer the lazy question Why?

The solution is to avoid the question Why by itself, and enumerate your thoughts and what it is that you are thinking at the time the question comes to you.