So many questions, so little point

We ask all sorts of questions. There's the "Where have you been?" and "How do you get to the interstate?" sort of questions that are easy to answer.

Then there's the rhetorical question which doesn't require an answer. "How would you like me to poke you in the nose?" for instance. No discussion needed to determine the exact spot a poke in the nose would occupy on one's like-dislike continuum. If you say that you would like it, you're a candidate for induction into the Marquis de Sade Hall of Fame.

Of course, the omnipresent "How are you?" doesn't call for a medical prognosis