“It’s not part of the script.” That’s a line I got from my teacher, who uses it when a student goes off with constant “what if…” questions.

I like to answer some of them sometimes, but I finally had to use that line this week. A kid wouldn’t stop, and after three, I had to say it.

We want questions, because sometimes they actually save the lesson. I might forget a detail, and the student will bring something up, and it’ll remind me of something important that I missed.

If you’re a student, you can ask a few of these “what if” questions, but if you think harder, you’ll be able to come up with smarter questions or even answer those yourself. If you’re going hold up a class, make it worth it.

When you’re just starting, and you trust your instructor¹, be weak and dumb.