Posted on by Californiacontrarian

Loaded . . . ?


In my local “newspaper” this week there is a community like forum with essays from various people in regards to “last weeks rioting by a mob incited by President Donald Trump in Washington D.C.” Initially, I was not going to read any of these essays as I knew basically what I was going to hear. Was the initial question a loaded question?

From Wikipedia:

“A loaded question or complex question is a question that contains a controversial assumption (e.g., a presumption of guilt).

[‘incited by President Trump,’ certainly contains a controversial assumption]

Pretty clear so far.

Still from Wikipedia:

“Such questions may be used as a rhetorical tool: the question attempts to limit direct replies to be those that serve the questioner’s agenda.”[Again, here ‘the question attempts to limit direct replies to be those that serve the questioner’s agenda.’]

Even more clear.

Typically the questioner will try to couch the question so that the one who answers may not even realize that the question is loaded. Not so here, as there is no attempt to pretend that the questioner is unbiased.

I eventually went back and read the four printed responses in the “newspaper,” and they were exactly the type of responses that one would expect with a slanted question.

Loaded ? . . . Clearly

Is this issue deserving of a response to the newspaper from yours truly? Clearly not.

128 Replies to “Loaded . . . ?”

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