Muscatine

The "questioning technique" employed often by Mal and TP is well known.

Called the "Socratic method", it can be used to great benefit.  But it also can be used to ridicule.  In their case, I suspect they really do not care about answers to their questions, as long as their questioning disparages their intended victim.

"...too often, however, Socrates used his questioning to disparage his students, not necessarily to help them. We must be wary of the sharp edge of this teaching tool.

  The Socratic method, or elenchus, is defined as a prolonged series of questions and answers which refutes a moral assertion by leading an opponent to draw a conclusion that contradicts his own viewpoint.  During this dialogue, students are forced to critically examine other viewpoints and question their own assumptions and assertions. Socrates developed this elenchus as a "means to examine, refute, or put to shame" and gradually cultivated a school of young athenians, including Plato, Xenophon, and aristophanes.  Often, his students were left confused and bewildered, not knowing exactly what truth was or what they personally believed. In time, however, the education his students received enabled the development of some of the world's greatest philosophy..."

But Prof. Joe already knows all this; others may not.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0NXL/is_2_21/ai_n27506276/