> "I responded with a 5 minute dissection of the question" I used to do this shit all the time. Turns out I was missing the obvious part: people ask imprecis

> "I responded with a 5 minute dissection of the question" I used to do this shit all the time. Turns out I was missing the obvious part: people ask imprecise questions, not because they're being intellectually sloppy, but because they're looking for a conversation, not an answer. And you can safely infer this, because the imprecise questions are almost always about things that simply do not matter. No-one really cares if you like Vancouver food vs Hong Kong food. (If your opinion on the matter was of objective interest, the question would have been far more precise.) As phrased, it's pretty close to a nonsense question. So when you find yourself thinking "what on earth could they mean by that?" just stop and have the conversation with them, not at them. That is: stop at your first (appropriate) impression, phrase it as open or closed based on your desire to actually continue the conversation, and toss the ball back. And always keep in mind that the answers are irrelevant; what matters is how you pass the ball.