Why Men Don't Ask Questions

I heard an odd statement made by one woman to another yesterday.  She said, "He doesn't always have all the details, like a woman would.  Men just don't like to ask enough questions."  It was not intended to be offensive as far as I could tell.  She went on to say a few other things not about men, just some other comments about the information needed, and how to get it.  

I thought about it briefly and thought about men's reluctance to ask for directions or for the location of a particular product in a store.  Men just don't want to appear not to know something.  They want to appear knowledgeable, etc., and don't want to show or admit to anything to contradict that image.  Asking a question is a show of weakness or ignorance.  That's my theory anyway.  Men will not ask many questions, they will wander around looking for many minutes to avoid having to stop and ask.

But, there's more.  My wife is a far better conversationalist than I am.  While I can and do form a connection that leads to an enjoyable conversation, it doesn't happen nearly as frequently as it does for her.  She often encounters strangers and initiates a conversation about what seems like nothing at all at first, but winds up lasting much longer than any i might have had.  Sure, it was usually with other women, but not exclusively so.  Is it these conversations that give her (and other women) the  "details" that the woman was referring to?  

I know lots of men who have a well-developed curiosity who pursue details about lots of things, but I don't know if they do that by reading and research or by conversation.  If I had to guess, I'd say it rarely occurs in casual conversation.  Sure, some men are highly competent interrogators, but I don't know many who learn these things in a casual conversation with a stranger.  My guess is that men are also more circumspect about who or what they will talk about.  With that said, I do recall a few actual and many fictional stories in which a man reveals all in "pillow talk."  Don't know what relevance that has, but it came into my head when I was thinking about tight-lipped men who never even discuss with their families their "top secret" activities.  

Is this a matter of introversion vs, extroversion?  I never have read of any studies that examined whether or not gender has any correlation with being an extrovert.  I just don't think that's behind the absence of "details" in the minds of men.  I also don't believe that men have no interest in the details.  They do, men who just have to know number in the hundreds among men I have known in my life.  I think if the information is readily available in a book or by some empirical method, men will have the answer.  But if it must be gained by engaging in a conversation where a man must reveal his ignorance, it is not likely to be in his brain.  Men want everyone to believe they are in charge, and in the know.  I've learned to overcome my reluctance to ask questions, but it has taken a lifetime.  It also was driven by my own tendency to analyze things.  If I weren't so analytical, I would not have undertaken the process of asking questions.  

My bottom line on this one?  Men hate to ask questions that might reflect badly on the self-image they cultivate of being in the know.  Consequently, many of them aren't.