In some ways it seems manipulative. Sometimes it is indeed a yes or no question, but most people know that certain answers require further explanation. It gives off the impression that you don’t wanna hear someone’s side of the story/debate. Sometimes “yes, but” or “no, but” is warranted.
“It’s a yes or no question” = “I want a yes or no answer”
But not everything will be just a yes or no answer.
The question was presented as yes or no. It’s your prerogative to want to provide additional information, it is the prerogative of the asker to want a simple answer. It’s inconsistent to champion the desires of the responder while disregarding the desires of the asker. Unless there’s some kind of power imbalance (e.g. employer/employee), every party is entitled to engage with others as they see fit.
Horrible way of thinking but go off I guess
Or when the question is a rhetorical trap
Did you stop beating your wife?
Depends on the context, but 9/10 times when someone busts it out they’re interrogating someone and trying to paint them as attempting to squirm out of a solid answer.
You’ll see this a lot in congressional hearings, it’s a great way to look like you’re really pinning the bad guy of the week industrialist to whatever angle you’re pushing.
Everybody thinks differently.
When talking to someone like that, just explain that for you to view it like that, first all the context needs spelled out.
Like:
Should you ever burn your house down?
Treat it like a straight yes/no question and the answer is “no”. 99.99999% that’s the answer.
But what if there’s like, a really big spider? Or the thing from The Thing and you’re in Antarctica?
Don’t frame it as an excuse for why someone did something, ask for or provide the context. Be empathetic and think like the person you’re talking to, don’t argue with them treat it as as small independent steps that led or leads to what they’re asking about.
This is definitely true, but not an unpopular opinion.
deleted by creator
I used to get this from my mom a lot. She always used it to shut down bringing nuance to a discussion.
The correct time to use this statement is when providing backstory or explanations is not relevant. Some actions can be excused or explained, others cannot. Sometimes people like to overcomplicate things for the sake of justifying something that isn’t or shouldn’t be justifiable. Stating that a questions is a yes or no question is essentially saying “the reasons don’t matter, did this happen or not?”
Yes
No.
It’s known as false dilemma, a logical fallacy.
“Yes or no” is male logic.
Female logic goes like “no or yes or maybe or I don’t know or leave me alone I got a headache…”
/s
