Reply #180: Hey Riddler

[jberryhill]

I answered every single one of your questions in the thread above.

Both. No. No. No. No. I didn't like it. Yes. No. No. Yes. No. Yes. No. Yes. (Yes.) No. Not without probable cause of personal culpability. No. I don' t know. I don't know. I don't know. Sure, why not. I'm not sure you understand the distinction between those two things. (No.) No. I think that's what happened. Yes. No. No. Yes. No. To intimidate them. They were unwarranted and done for the purpose of covering up non-feasance or malfeasance. Absolutely. Perhaps. People acting with the strength of their own conviction generally have less than venal motivation. No. I have no idea. I believe they continue presently. Yes. Yes. Maybe. Sure. I don't know. Didn't read it. No. What one chooses to discuss in one's free time on an internet forum is not, in the larger scheme of things, of much consequence. Yes. Yes. No. No. A little. I don't know.

There. The world is now a better place because you now have the complete list of opinions of someone you don't even know. Wow.

But if I could offer you some helpful free advice, do not take up writing interrogatories in your spare time. You have a very pronounced tendency for "negative phrasing" of yes-or-no questions.

For example, try answering these two questions with "yes" or "no":

1. "Were you drinking last night?"

2. "Weren't you drinking last night?"

If you were drinking, the correct answers are "yes" and "no". The problem with the second question is that it asks "Were you NOT drinking last night?" A lot of people, though, will answer question 2 with "no" to indicate that they were not drinking last night. For that reason, questions of the form you posted are generally considered to be not capable of an unambiguous yes or no question.

You had exactly nothing to say after that.

So now what?