5 ms·

I honestly don't know what a "deep" question sounds like. Is there a list of topics that fall into that category somewhere?

vorpalhex 7y ago
"What are your thoughts on the afterlife?" Any question more likely than not to possibly cause some stir or anxiety usually gets listed in my head as not appropriate for shallow conversations. Religion, politics, questions in depth about personal history, metaphysics, philosophy, etc. Of course, having deep conversations is super rewarding and it can really help you learn a lot about other people and build relationships beyond just inane topics like tv or the weather.
outime 7y ago
There may be a generic list somewhere but I find them to come naturally from curiosity. Things like: - Do you like what you do? - Do you regret this or that? - Did you study what you always wanted? - How believing in X helped you? - What’s the worst memory/event you went through? - Do you love your parents? - What’s the best/worst your kids gave to you (emotionally speaking)? - Do you think you need this or is it a distraction from the important stuff (whatever that is for you)? Those questions I just came up for nobody in particular (for a close friend those would be pretty normal) and depending of your background, customs, etc they might be deep or might not. They’re not inquisitive and I’m definitely not judging or trying to convince about anything. They do make you think a bit before answering and you learn a lot from those, even from the most superficial people. You need to be very open and accept very harsh and contrary visions from your own in order to benefit from it though, and that’s a long process.
- cryptonector 7y ago
  - Are you happy? is a good one.
SolaceQuantum 7y ago
IME a deep conversation's subject actually depends wholly on the individual participants of the conversation. It generally is about a shared topic that is part of the self-identification of at least one party (with a non-identifying party being willing to listen to the identifying party in a manner that the identifying party understands to be respectful). For example, between an athiest and a thiest, a deep theological question goes into the thiest's religion with the athiest being at minimum willing to listen in a manner the thiest sees as both participatory (not empty 'uh-huh' responses) and also respectful (no blanket denials or insults). Between two thiests, a deep theological question would go into the nature of their spiritualities, comparing and contrasting, or some specific nuance of a shared thiestic belief. A non-religious deep question can also be positioned on, say, the influence of a specific popular activity. This leads to, for example, heavy and deep debate on the nuances of tennis between two tennis players, or a similarly intimate discussion in which people who suffer from addiction can feel benefit from discussions with other addicts.

vorpalhex 7y ago

"What are your thoughts on the afterlife?" Any question more likely than not to possibly cause some stir or anxiety usually gets listed in my head as not appropriate for shallow conversations. Religion, politics, questions in depth about personal history, metaphysics, philosophy, etc. Of course, having deep conversations is super rewarding and it can really help you learn a lot about other people and build relationships beyond just inane topics like tv or the weather.

outime 7y ago

There may be a generic list somewhere but I find them to come naturally from curiosity. Things like: - Do you like what you do? - Do you regret this or that? - Did you study what you always wanted? - How believing in X helped you? - What’s the worst memory/event you went through? - Do you love your parents? - What’s the best/worst your kids gave to you (emotionally speaking)? - Do you think you need this or is it a distraction from the important stuff (whatever that is for you)? Those questions I just came up for nobody in particular (for a close friend those would be pretty normal) and depending of your background, customs, etc they might be deep or might not. They’re not inquisitive and I’m definitely not judging or trying to convince about anything. They do make you think a bit before answering and you learn a lot from those, even from the most superficial people. You need to be very open and accept very harsh and contrary visions from your own in order to benefit from it though, and that’s a long process.

cryptonector 7y ago
- Are you happy? is a good one.

SolaceQuantum 7y ago

IME a deep conversation's subject actually depends wholly on the individual participants of the conversation. It generally is about a shared topic that is part of the self-identification of at least one party (with a non-identifying party being willing to listen to the identifying party in a manner that the identifying party understands to be respectful). For example, between an athiest and a thiest, a deep theological question goes into the thiest's religion with the athiest being at minimum willing to listen in a manner the thiest sees as both participatory (not empty 'uh-huh' responses) and also respectful (no blanket denials or insults). Between two thiests, a deep theological question would go into the nature of their spiritualities, comparing and contrasting, or some specific nuance of a shared thiestic belief. A non-religious deep question can also be positioned on, say, the influence of a specific popular activity. This leads to, for example, heavy and deep debate on the nuances of tennis between two tennis players, or a similarly intimate discussion in which people who suffer from addiction can feel benefit from discussions with other addicts.