Current Events > When did "I'm just asking questions' become such a controversial statement?

(+) Yeah! (+)

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sealioning

Rhetorically, sealioning fuses persistent questioningoften about basic information, information easily found elsewhere, or unrelated or tangential pointswith a loudly-insisted-upon commitment to reasonable debate. It disguises itself as a sincere attempt to learn and communicate. Sealioning thus works both to exhaust a target's patience, attention, and communicative effort, and to portray the target as unreasonable. While the questions of the "sea lion" may seem innocent, they're intended maliciously and have harmful consequences.

USER INFO: HAHACLINTONDIX
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Guide posted...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sealioning

TIL

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At this point I'm gonna say it's basically alt-right code

https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Just_asking_questions

Just asking questions (also known as JAQing off) is a way of attempting to make wild accusations acceptable (and hopefully not legally actionable) by framing them as questions rather than statements. It shifts the burden of proof to one's opponent; rather than laboriously having to prove that all politicians are reptoid scum, one can pull out one single odd piece of evidence and force the opponent to explain why the evidence is wrong.

The tactic is closely related to loaded questions or leading questions (which are usually employed when using it), Gish Gallops (when asking a huge number of rapid-fire questions without regard for the answers) and Argumentum ad nauseam (when asking the same question over and over in an attempt to overwhelm refutations).

It should be noted that accusing one's opponent of "just asking questions" is a common derailment tactic and a way of poisoning the well. Asking questions in and of itself is not invalid.

The subjective nature of this charge, and its consequent ripeness for abuse, means that deploying it can be a very inflammatory move. One side may put forward the accusation that the other side is cynically "just asking questions" and believe that they are acting in good faith, and the other side may equally strongly believe that they were asking genuine questions in good faith and the first person is the one acting in bad faith.

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CalypsoDoom posted...

Sealioning is something people here unfortunately enjoy doing

i no rite, jeez

like "does racism actually exist?" et al

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