"I hate security questions. I do not understand the need for them, or how they keep anything secure, when the questions they asks are always public knowledge."

Like with most things, security questions create a facade of security. Just like the "at least one lower case letter, one uppercase letter, one number, and one non-alphanumeric character" requirement of some sites: more often than not, the resulting password is "easier" to guess (many people put the numbers at the end, etc)