BS: Questions which have no correct answer

Subject: BS: Questions which have no correct answer
From: mumblin len
Date: 09 Apr 09 - 09:15 AM

I was thinking out loud today and wondering, since some questions have no correct answer ( e.g. When a woman asks a man,"Does my bum look big in this?" ) is there an etymological definition for such a question, Any ideas? I personally would suggest 'Dangerous Questions', but wonder if any of you philosophers have a better definition.

Subject: RE: BS: Questions which have no correct answer
From: GUEST,LTS pretending to work
Date: 09 Apr 09 - 09:24 AM

Directed at the remainder of a dessert dish:

'Are you going to eat that?'

The answer is invariably short, sharp and often bloody.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Questions which have no correct answer
From: Midchuck
Date: 09 Apr 09 - 09:29 AM

The classic one, in both logic and the law, is:

"Have you stopped beating your wife?"

Peter

Subject: RE: BS: Questions which have no correct answer
From: Wesley S
Date: 09 Apr 09 - 10:09 AM

Do I really need another musical instrument? It can be dangerous if your SO overhears it.

Subject: RE: BS: Questions which have no correct answer
From: wysiwyg
Date: 09 Apr 09 - 10:23 AM

Aren't these a form of rhetorical question?

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Questions which have no correct answer
From: GUEST,jOhn
Date: 09 Apr 09 - 10:23 AM

weres my hamster?

Subject: RE: BS: Questions which have no correct answer
From: Amos
Date: 09 Apr 09 - 10:43 AM

IS reality better than it was going to be?

Subject: RE: BS: Questions which have no correct answer
From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity
Date: 09 Apr 09 - 11:10 AM

Are you crazy???

Like the answer can be trusted

Subject: RE: BS: Questions which have no correct answer
From: MMario
Date: 09 Apr 09 - 11:11 AM

Why does a duck?

Subject: RE: BS: Questions which have no correct answer
From: Bill D
Date: 09 Apr 09 - 11:12 AM

Which grocery checkout line should I pick?

Subject: RE: BS: Questions which have no correct answer
From: beardedbruce
Date: 09 Apr 09 - 11:34 AM

MMario: "The quack."

Subject: RE: BS: Questions which have no correct answer
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 09 Apr 09 - 11:41 AM

"Do these pants make my bum look big?" ...




"No, it's all the cakes you eat that do that!"

Subject: RE: BS: Questions which have no correct answer
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 09 Apr 09 - 11:44 AM

Which grocery checkout line should I pick?

Always pick the longest line. If you pick the shortest one, the checkout gods will conspire to put some obstacle in your way. The person ahead of you will have a purseful of manufacture's coupons or eight separate food assistance vouchers that must be handled as individual transactions. If you choose the longest one, you'll be appeasing the checkout gods by sacrificing yourself in advance. It will take the same amount of time either way, but the reason for your delay in a long line is at least obvious and expected.

Please make note of the fact that this rule of thumb applies only to you. Other people are allowed to jump into the short line and be out in a matter of seconds, but you must resist the urge at all costs. If you move to the short line, the cash register will lock up.

Subject: RE: BS: Questions which have no correct answer
From: Bill D
Date: 09 Apr 09 - 11:55 AM

Yep... I see you have been there, Bee-dub.....

(This also applies to picking lanes on a multi-lane street. If you move to the right, a UPS truck will stop right in front of you and the traffic in the lane you moved FROM will close up and offer no chance to move back)

Subject: RE: BS: Questions which have no correct answer
From: KB in Iowa
Date: 09 Apr 09 - 01:06 PM

"Do these pants make my bum look big?" ...

No, your bum makes the pants look big.

Subject: RE: BS: Questions which have no correct answer
From: Sttaw Legend
Date: 09 Apr 09 - 01:18 PM

How long is a piece of string?

Subject: RE: BS: Questions which have no correct answer
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 09 Apr 09 - 01:55 PM

No, How Long is the guy who runs the Chinese take-out.

Subject: RE: BS: Questions which have no correct answer
From: gnu
Date: 09 Apr 09 - 02:23 PM

Howie Long played for Oakland.

Subject: RE: BS: Questions which have no correct answer
From: wysiwyg
Date: 09 Apr 09 - 03:09 PM

Folks, the original post asked:

... is there an etymological definition for such a question, Any ideas? I personally would suggest 'Dangerous Questions', but wonder if any of you philosophers have a better definition.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Questions which have no correct answer
From: heric
Date: 09 Apr 09 - 04:58 PM

I believe we can hereby coin the term: "kairotic dilemma."

Subject: RE: BS: Questions which have no correct answer
From: Bill D
Date: 09 Apr 09 - 05:10 PM

awww...what fun is it if you hold us to the original question?

Ok, then...there are several more specific types under that general heading.

The most common is rhetorical questions, but this implies a question for which no answer is really expected...or in which the answer is already presumed.

Then there are 'questions' stated as puzzlements or bewilderments in which one can't find a simple answer....such as 'which came first, the chicken or the egg'? or "what is courage?" or...*shudder*
What is 'folk'?" These were called aporia in Greek.

Also. 'hypothetical' questions might be included..."What if we bred a platypus to an aardvark?" One can speculate as to features, but it can't actually be done..

I suppose some questions could be 'tautologies' in disguise...asking something that is self-referential by using two words that imply the same thing.

If you want to pursue other possibilites, this page on "rhetorical devices" lists a number of technical terms which 'could' be used to frame a question in some circumstances.

Subject: RE: BS: Questions which have no correct answer
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 09 Apr 09 - 05:36 PM

Okay, I'll take a stab at answering the original question:

"I have no frigging idea!"

All better now?

Subject: RE: BS: Questions which have no correct answer
From: Ebbie
Date: 09 Apr 09 - 07:02 PM

Wouldn't the answer be a conundrum?

Subject: RE: BS: Questions which have no correct answer
From: Bill D
Date: 09 Apr 09 - 07:14 PM

I think a conundrum is 'about' what aporia are.... we 'philosophers' were nagged to find a formal definition.

But conundrum is a pretty good standard word for it all... *grin*

Subject: RE: BS: Questions which have no correct answer
From: Bobert
Date: 09 Apr 09 - 07:31 PM

And from Tom Robbin's "Even the Cowgirls Get the Blues":

"If a hen and a half can lay an egg and ahlf in a day in a half then how long would it take a monkey with a wooden leg to kick the seeds out of a dill pickle?"

I think that one deserves honorable mention...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Questions which have no correct answer
From: Amos
Date: 09 Apr 09 - 07:35 PM

There's another descriptor for the kind of questions that are used to bloviate with and manipulate people with by covertly disconnecting any link between your rhetoric and actual things. They are called "semantically null" or "meaningless". There are a lot of threads in our history in which long discussions have been had on such questions. Another example is trying to make "facts" out of opinions and then acting like you are having a serious presentation of facts. They aren't exactly semantically null, but building rhetoric on them can make a huge cloud of stink from a tiny opinionated whiff. Cf. Rush Limbaugh.


A

Subject: RE: BS: Questions which have no correct answer
From: Bill D
Date: 09 Apr 09 - 08:40 PM

Of course that one is unanswerable, Bobert,, it wasn't phrased correctly.. my daddy asked us 60+ years ago:

"If a hen and a half can lay an egg and half in a day in a half then how long would it take a cross-eyed grasshopper with a wooden leg to kick the seeds out of a dill pickle?"

Tom Robbins is a Johnny-come-lately

Subject: RE: BS: Questions which have no correct answer
From: Becca72
Date: 10 Apr 09 - 08:49 AM

"Do these pants make my bum look big?"




The gift of sight makes my bum look big....

Subject: RE: BS: Questions which have no correct answer
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 10 Apr 09 - 11:39 AM

I thought that "Yes, Dear" was the correct answer to every First question and "No , Dear" the answer to the following one...
Quack!
GtD.

Subject: RE: BS: Questions which have no correct answer
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 10 Apr 09 - 11:41 AM

Ebbie:
Wouldn't the answer be a conundrum?

No, I thought the question would be a conundrum!

Cheers
Nigel

Subject: RE: BS: Questions which have no correct answer
From: Mrs.Duck
Date: 10 Apr 09 - 05:43 PM

Geoff, have you ever noticed those quiet days? That's when I'm not talking to you but as usual you never listen ;)

Subject: RE: BS: Questions which have no correct answer
From: kendall
Date: 10 Apr 09 - 08:29 PM

The way I heard it was: If a hen and a half can lay an egg and a half, in a day and a half,how long would it take a monkey to row across the Atlantic on a crow bar?
The same length of time it would take a hen to build enough pressure to shit through a two inch plank.

We have long winters up here.

Subject: RE: BS: Questions which have no correct answer
From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity
Date: 10 Apr 09 - 08:46 PM

For the first post...and From: WYSIWYG...The answer, might be found in this question...'Is that a rhetorical question??'

Subject: RE: BS: Questions which have no correct answer
From: Girl Friday
Date: 11 Apr 09 - 02:18 PM

As usual my other half has raised one of those questions that runs and runs and we're all going round in circles. We shall end up like the Ooslum bird.

Subject: RE: BS: Questions which have no correct answer
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 11 Apr 09 - 10:12 PM

It has occurred to me that such questions are often asked by people wanting to start trouble. The questioner isn't looking for an answer, but for an opportunity to find fault with the answerer. It's like a drunk in a bar asking, "Are you looking at me?" Answer "Yes," and the drunk will respond, "Why? You think I'm ugly?" Answer "No," and the drunk will respond, "Why not? You think I'm ugly?" At that point in the exchange, the only logical course of action is to kick the son of a bitch in the balls and run for the door.

Therefore, I propose that such unanswerable questions be known as "Shit Starters".

Subject: RE: BS: Questions which have no correct answer
From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity
Date: 12 Apr 09 - 01:12 AM

Pretty good shit, eh?

Subject: RE: BS: Questions which have no correct answer
From: Will Fly
Date: 12 Apr 09 - 05:23 AM

I want to know why the OP was "thinking out loud today" and caused all this trouble in the first place. Think how much easier life would have been if you hadn't all been having to work hard to come up with answers.

I always think out loud silently. And never today - always tomorrow.

Subject: RE: BS: Questions which have no correct answer
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 12 Apr 09 - 06:36 AM

Then there are 'questions' stated as puzzlements or bewilderments in which one can't find a simple answer....such as 'which came first, the chicken or the egg'? .............................................

Chicken Lickin and Humpty Dumpty had just finished a passionate love making session. As they lay back and smoked a cigarette, Humpty Dumpty said "Well, at least we know the answer to the question."


DC

Subject: RE: BS: Questions which have no correct answer
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 12 Apr 09 - 01:25 PM

Heya Trev!!! Welcome back. Are you contemplating a song? I hope so.

According to Ronald Dworkin's legal theory every legal case (read question) has a "right" answer. Wouldn't it be great if we could ascribe this theory to all questions regardless of the legal nature? Then we could say that Mumblin Len's question is a Dworkin or a Dworkinism.



















I'll get me toga

Subject: RE: BS: Questions which have no correct answer
From: HuwG
Date: 12 Apr 09 - 01:50 PM

From (UK) comedian Jack Dee:

Q. Does this hat match this dress?
A: Yes. sotto voce They're both horrible.

Subject: RE: BS: Questions which have no correct answer
From: michaelr
Date: 12 Apr 09 - 10:23 PM

Are you doing better now than you were four years ago?