Questions with a Trap

The family is playing cards. Tariq has just won for the third time in a row. His cousin Leila narrows her eyes and asks: "Tariq, have you stopped cheating at cards yet?"

"No!" says Tariq. Everyone gasps. "I mean yes!" Everyone gasps again.

Tariq can't win. Whatever he answers, he seems to admit something.

A claim hidden in a question

Look at what each answer would mean:

• "Yes, I've stopped" means: I used to cheat, but I don't now.
• "No, I haven't stopped" means: I cheated, and I still do.

Both answers agree that Tariq cheated before. That claim isn't asked; it's built into the question. A question like this is called a loaded question: it is loaded with a claim, the way a cart is loaded with a heavy box, and whoever answers it has to carry the box.

It works like the hidden premise at the start of this course: a claim that nobody says out loud, so nobody checks it.

Loaded questions everywhere

Loaded questions aren't only jokes at the card table:

• A survey asks: "How much did you enjoy our delicious new menu?" (It assumes you enjoyed it, and that it's delicious.)
• An advert asks: "Why do more families choose Sunny Juice?" (Do they?)
• Someone asks: "Why are you always so rude?" (Always? Rude?)

The trick is that a question doesn't look like a claim. We are used to checking statements, but we answer questions quickly, especially short yes-or-no ones.

How to answer one

Don't answer the question as asked. Answer the hidden claim instead:

"I've never cheated at cards, so I can't have stopped."

Or name the trick politely: "That question assumes I cheated. I didn't." And when you ask questions, check that they don't carry a claim the other person hasn't agreed to. "What did you think of the film?" is fair. "Wasn't that film boring?" is leaning.

Try it at home

1. Find the hidden claim: "Where did you hide the biscuits?"
2. Find the hidden claim: "Why is our team the best in the league?"
3. Rewrite question 1 so it isn't loaded.

Words to know

• loaded question - a question with a claim built into it, so that any short answer agrees with that claim

Big idea

Some questions hide a claim inside them, and any yes or no seems to admit it. Pull the hidden claim out, and answer that instead.