<p>I mean, okay, a lot of the time, what happens is this: professor asks a pretty obvious question - a question so obvious that the 50% of the class that’s <em>at least</em> barely aware of the material should know its answer. And yet, NO ONE raises their hand - even when the professor repeats the question for the second time and holds the class in silence. Seriously, even the less socially anxious people are prone to doing this.</p>
<p>because theres that 0.01% that you might be wrong and you fear that other classmates will laugh at you causing you to be ostracized in the social circle when nobody really cares making you subconsciously believe that your survival rate has been decreased.</p>
<p>^ Pretty much. I don’t refrain from raising my hand if I know it’s right, but if I’m less than 50% sure I won’t raise my hand. Most people in my classes aren’t cripplingly shy though, so…</p>
<p>Yeah well, sometimes the prof asks SUPER easy questions like “what’s the derivative of ln(x)” and then yet no one in the class even raises their hand (and this was a freshman level HONORS calculus course with some of the smartest people in the state taking it)</p>
<p>I’m just lazy. And I’m usually doing something else in class.</p>
<p>To me it is intimidation. First of all the teacher kinda freaks me out. Second it is really simple but you look around to see if it really is simple (number of hand raised) and if you don’t see enough you think you are wrong, then during the second time the teacher asks you don’t want to break the awkward silence by giving a wrong answer.</p>
<p>I do it to not look like a smart ass. I hate it when I answer all the questions in class, so I stop after a few and wait for someone else to answer.</p>
<p>I don’t want to look stupid. There’s a good chance my answer is incorrect. If it’s correct, I’ll just look annoying instead of stupid.</p>
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<p>LazyGenius pretty much nailed it, I think.</p>
<p>I don’t like to answer the questions all the time like i sometimes do so, i just keep quiet so i don’t seem like some nerdy black kid.</p>
<p>I remember my extremely intimidating history teacher back in middle school asking “when was our nation founded?”. Everybody was too terrified to say anything, since a lot of similarly easy questions got the student shot down. She ended up mumbling to herself about how kids nowadays don’t know anything about US History…</p>
<p>At my current school, nobody wants to be the nerdy kid answering every question, so that contributes as well.</p>
<p>I think toxic nailed it pretty well for me. I’ve been wary ever since freshman year when my French teacher pulled me aside and said not to answer so many questions, because she wanted other kids to have a chance.</p>
<p>Pretty much what toxic said. I was once in a science course where I was one of two people who routinely answered questions. One day, the teacher got fed up and told us we “weren’t giving anyone else a chance” (even though she normally ignored for several minutes asking for “someone new” to raise their hands) to answer questions, and forbade us from continuing to answer questions. Then she got angry when no one answered questions anymore.</p>
<p>because when I am right, the other people in my class make fun of me for being a nerd or a know-it-all or something like that. Or because I’m terrified of being wrong ><</p>
<p>People of average education show off the studied regularity of their script, but the well educated often scribble illegibly. Mediocre students answer a teacher’s easy questions, but the best students are embarrassed to prove their knowledge of trivial points. People of moderate ability seek formal credentials to impress employers and society, but the talented often downplay their credentials even if they have bothered to obtain them. A person of average reputation defensively refutes accusations against his character, while a highly respected person finds it demeaning to dignify accusations with a response.</p>
<p>sometimes im just too tired to raise my hand. and i know my voice will crack because i never clear my throat in the morning.</p>
<p>Because I raise my hand often enough :c.</p>
<p>No reason/need to answer, so why answer?</p>
<p>Because I don’t want to look like the know-it-all. And I personally dislike people who answer every single question and I don’t want to be the kind of person I hate. </p>
<p>And plus if I really dislike a teacher I’m not going to participate in her class.</p>
<p>^Exactly that.</p>