Does saying "To settle a bet" make Cecil more or less inclined to answer?

Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports
1

I notice a lot of questioners say they want Cecil to settle a bet. Would that make him more inclined to answer?
Do we have any statistics?

My own inclination would be to prefer simple requests for information, but then I think gambling is dumb. Betting on random or unknowable outcomes like coin tosses and horse races seems dumb, and betting on facts dumber, and betting on opinions dumbest of all.

But then maybe Cecil simply ignores that part of the question.

2

My guess is that it’s irrelevant. The most important thing is whether the answer is going to be interesting. The second thing might be how hard it is to find the information: if you can get it easily in an ordinary reference source like Britannica or Wikipedia, then it’s less likely to be worth publishing.

3

Actually, I’d like to know the answer to this particular question.

I’m trying to settle a bet on this very subject.

4

My WAG, knowing Cecil’s penchance for ridicule, is that there is a strong correlation between people prefacing their questions with “to settle a bet” and those people losing said bet. :smiley:

5

I’m not Cecil of course, but I work directly with him every week on going through possible questions and helping do legwork and research for him. As far as I know it being a bet or wager makes no difference whatsoever to answering the question. Maybe if you cut Cecil in on some of the take…but I kid.

Qualities which make for a good question include, but are not limited to:

  • Is it unique or at least a very unusual yet interesting topic?
  • Has it already been adequately answered elsewhere? (adequately is the key word here)
  • Is it newsworthy and tied to a current event or events?
  • Is it a complicated topic which becomes entertaining and informative to the public when explained in Cecil’s style?

In addition, there has to be something about the question which “grabs” Cecil’s interest. I am not always certain what that is; only he could add more to that.

6

Heh…“Cecil” recently answered a question of mine I never even submitted to him. When the Straight Dope Chicago forum opened, I seized my chance at immortality by making the first post in the brand new forum. The “question” was really a joke, riffing on old Jim Croce lyrics about whether the South side of Chicago is the “baddest part of town”. Apparently, “Cecil” saw the thread, and decided the tongue in cheek question was sponge-worthy.

7

I sort through the mail, separating them into neat little electronic piles for Cecil’s consideration. I’ve been doing this for years, and I’ve got a fair feeling for the types of questions he likes, mostly the same criteria that Una came up with, but the “grab” factor seems to come first. Questions about bodily functions, questions that will never be addressed in PARADE Magazine, questions that attract attention in their headlines, those tend to be top of the list. The actual formulation (“to settle a bet” or “argument with my spouse” or sucking up) don’t seem to have as much impact as the question itself.

I also gotta say, having done this for years, I still can’t predict very well. I’d have thought that “Why is there a marijuana leaf on the Canadian flag?” would never have made it past the LOL stage, but lo! Sometimes he takes up a ridiculous question just because.

Eccentric geniuses are entitled to their whims.