Personally I would say no, to a degree. A question is asked due to a person not knowing or understanding certain information or seeks clarity. Asking “what color is the sky” when the person can see the sky might be questionable, but I believe that there is a reason why they asked. But according to http://www.catb.org/esr/faqs/smart-questions.html there is a smart way and a not so smart way to ask programming questions.
My understanding of Mr. Raymond’s “How to” is to check if your question has been answered, make sure you ask the right people, and don’t make your problem everyone else’s problem. One of the first things he states about what to do is to check if you’re question has already been asked before. It boils down to, “If the question has been answered then why ask again?”. Asking the right people means that, for example, you’re not going to go up to your English teacher and ask him/her a calculus question. Although they might have an answer it wouldn’t logically make sense. The same thing occurs online through the use of online forums. Being off-topic means you would have a less likely chance of getting an answer on the forums page. When you have a problem you don’t have to be crude about asking for assistance. Demanding by saying “HELP!” or trying to get your post noticed may lead to an opposite effect. Having good etiquette by explaining your problem and what you have tried to do and what you wish to accomplish can help get what you need.
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/336859/var-functionname-function-vs-function-functionname
I believe this to be an example of a smart question because the person states their situation, shows examples of what the “problem” is, and has clear questions. The person asks two questions at the end that are asking for clarity on his situation. Although this isn’t a direct problem, it is on topic of what Stack Overflow is: a place to ask about programming. The examples given are directly related to the title of the post and the question about pros and cons help to narrow down what answer the person is looking for.
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/60167692/how-are-emojis-with-skin-tones-internally-represented
This question is not so smart due to what it is about. The person is asking about how emojis are internally represented, but this question isn’t really on topic to Stack Overflow’s guidelines. Although it can be interpreted as a programming question, this question would be better suited to another forum such as Super User since the question isn’t directly about coding.
Questions are asked because someone does not have the information or understanding another person has and seeks clarity to their problem. After reading Mr. Raymond’s post about how to properly ask questions it is clear that there are some guidelines. I believe that everyone has their own opinion on what a smart question is, but if you need somewhere to start consider reading Mr. Raymond’s whole post if you haven’t already.