Loaded Question

What is it?

A question with a contested assumption buried inside it. Answer it either way and you’ve accepted the assumption. “Have you stopped cheating on tests?”: yes convicts you, so does no.

The pattern

1. Question: “Have you stopped doing X?” (doing X is assumed)
2. Yes: “So you were doing it.”
3. No: “So you still are.”

Why it fails

It catches you off guard because it doesn’t look like a claim; people are wired to answer questions, not audit them. The assumption slips in while you answer. And the audience only hears the answer: your stammer, your blush. The trick is to make you look guilty without accusing you.

How to spot it

• Whatever you answer, you’ve conceded something unpleasant.
• Questions starting with “when”, “why”, “still”, with a claim hiding behind them.
• You find yourself defending while trying to answer.

What to say

Don’t answer; pull out the assumption. “That question takes something for granted; let’s discuss that first. What makes you think I lied?” Split the question in two and answer each part separately.

When it’s not a fallacy

Every question assumes something; “what time is it?” assumes there’s a time. If the assumption is uncontroversial and shared, no problem. The fallacy is burying the very thing in dispute inside the question and making the answerer look like they’ve conceded it.