Why do politicians refuse to answer hypothetical questions?
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Often you hear politicians say this "I don't answer hypothetical questions". Why can't hypothetical questions be answered? What are the grounds for politicians justify saying that? Is there a way to properly answer hypothetical questions?
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Often you hear politicians say this "I don't answer hypothetical questions". Why can't hypothetical questions be answered? What are the grounds for politicians justify saying that? Is there a way to properly answer hypothetical questions?
political-theory debate
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Perhaps they simply don’t want to answer the question, whether it is possible or not.
– chirlu
Nov 19 at 14:00
6
I think this was a good question with a bad title, so I've edited the title.
– Paul Johnson
Nov 19 at 16:54
1
I fail to understand how is this not related to politics. Also, the question gathered a couple of good answers proving that it is answerable.
– Alexei
Nov 20 at 5:59
55
They don't answer concrete questions either.
– Russell Borogove
Nov 20 at 21:49
15
If you were a politician, would you answer hypothetical questions? ;-)
– Mawg
Nov 21 at 12:52
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up vote
41
down vote
favorite
Often you hear politicians say this "I don't answer hypothetical questions". Why can't hypothetical questions be answered? What are the grounds for politicians justify saying that? Is there a way to properly answer hypothetical questions?
political-theory debate
New contributor
Often you hear politicians say this "I don't answer hypothetical questions". Why can't hypothetical questions be answered? What are the grounds for politicians justify saying that? Is there a way to properly answer hypothetical questions?
political-theory debate
political-theory debate
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edited Nov 20 at 10:22
nelruk
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asked Nov 19 at 10:12
user1589188
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34
Perhaps they simply don’t want to answer the question, whether it is possible or not.
– chirlu
Nov 19 at 14:00
6
I think this was a good question with a bad title, so I've edited the title.
– Paul Johnson
Nov 19 at 16:54
1
I fail to understand how is this not related to politics. Also, the question gathered a couple of good answers proving that it is answerable.
– Alexei
Nov 20 at 5:59
55
They don't answer concrete questions either.
– Russell Borogove
Nov 20 at 21:49
15
If you were a politician, would you answer hypothetical questions? ;-)
– Mawg
Nov 21 at 12:52
|
show 5 more comments
34
Perhaps they simply don’t want to answer the question, whether it is possible or not.
– chirlu
Nov 19 at 14:00
6
I think this was a good question with a bad title, so I've edited the title.
– Paul Johnson
Nov 19 at 16:54
1
I fail to understand how is this not related to politics. Also, the question gathered a couple of good answers proving that it is answerable.
– Alexei
Nov 20 at 5:59
55
They don't answer concrete questions either.
– Russell Borogove
Nov 20 at 21:49
15
If you were a politician, would you answer hypothetical questions? ;-)
– Mawg
Nov 21 at 12:52
34
34
Perhaps they simply don’t want to answer the question, whether it is possible or not.
– chirlu
Nov 19 at 14:00
Perhaps they simply don’t want to answer the question, whether it is possible or not.
– chirlu
Nov 19 at 14:00
6
6
I think this was a good question with a bad title, so I've edited the title.
– Paul Johnson
Nov 19 at 16:54
I think this was a good question with a bad title, so I've edited the title.
– Paul Johnson
Nov 19 at 16:54
1
1
I fail to understand how is this not related to politics. Also, the question gathered a couple of good answers proving that it is answerable.
– Alexei
Nov 20 at 5:59
I fail to understand how is this not related to politics. Also, the question gathered a couple of good answers proving that it is answerable.
– Alexei
Nov 20 at 5:59
55
55
They don't answer concrete questions either.
– Russell Borogove
Nov 20 at 21:49
They don't answer concrete questions either.
– Russell Borogove
Nov 20 at 21:49
15
15
If you were a politician, would you answer hypothetical questions? ;-)
– Mawg
Nov 21 at 12:52
If you were a politician, would you answer hypothetical questions? ;-)
– Mawg
Nov 21 at 12:52
|
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8 Answers
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The vast majority of the time, a politician's negatives come from what they have said, not what they haven't said. A politician can refuse to answer questions a thousand times without it hurting their career. Anything a politician does say, even if it is reasonable, can be taken out of context, treated as an incorrect response when it is a fine response, replayed in an attack ad over spooky music with ominous narration, later misquoted, and treated as a sufficient reason not to vote for that politician even though it is such a small part of their platform (or not even part of their platform at all).
The following are not examples of responses to hypothetical questions, but they are examples of how twisted quotes have been career-damaging and carried more weight than they should.
Example: famously, Al Gore is misquoted as claiming that he invented the internet, which he did not exactly claim, especially in those words; though he did credit himself with advancing the adoption of the internet in many ways, including the Supercomputer Network Study Act of 1986, the High Performance Computing and Communication Act of 1991, and other measures.
Example: Stacey Abrams gave a speech suggesting that the blue wave includes immigrants, documented and undocumented. It is obvious that she would not have meant that undocumented immigrants actually vote in the mid-terms (no politician would be dumb enough to say and mean this in a public forum), but that undocumented immigrants support the blue wave (in non-voting ways, including moral support and advocacy) and are supported by the blue wave. But some people deliberately misinterpreted this quote in order to claim that she was encouraging voter fraud.
Example involving a hypothetical: In the 1988 presidential debates, Dukakis's candidacy was sunk by a hypothetical question in which Bernard Shaw asked him "Governor, if Kitty Dukakis were raped and murdered, would you favor an irrevocable death penalty for the killer?" Dukakis answered "No, I don't, Bernard, and I think you know that I've opposed the death penalty during all of my life." You probably want a president whose principals and policies remain constant regardless of whether they are personally affected; otherwise their policies were wrong to begin with, or they become a selfish hypocrite as soon as they find themselves in the same position as the rest of us. This was in no way a change from what was already well known about Dukakis's platform. Rationally, this answer shouldn't have changed the electoral math at all. The public nevertheless reacted as though he was a cold-blooded psychopath. (This example was incorporated from the replies)
Hypothetical questions in particular have several other factors that make them politically dangerous to tackle:
They exist outside of the politician's message. If a politician wants voters to associate them with healthcare reform, then they don't want to answer a hypothetical that could lead to them being associate with a different topic.- Hypotheticals exist outside of planned responses. This means whatever answer the politician gives will not be premeditated, does not give the benefit of conducting any background research, and therefore, the response is more likely to be wrong.
- It also means that the politician has to formulate an answer without assistance from strategy consultants, the policy director, the communications department, and so on.
- It is not a practiced answer, and therefore more likely to be delivered nervously, ineptly, and with gaffes.
Hypotheticals lack the full context of the situation. If you are asked how you would handle a foreign country killing an American journalist, in real life you might take into account things like what is our diplomatic relationship with the country, what is our trade relationship with the country, what is the relative military strength between us and them, who within that country perpetrated the killing, why did they do it, who else knew, who authorized it, and so on. In a hypothetical, a lot of this context is obscured; so how are you supposed to answer what you would do when you've been blindfolded from knowing like 93% of the information that you would realistically take into account? You probably wouldn't have an answer in one minute like the interviewer is expecting; you would probably ask the opinion of your chief of staff, vice president, senior adviser, the Pentagon Joint Chiefs of Staff, and then think about the issue for 80 hours. Many economic situations are multi-faceted, and an intervention in one area likely has downstream consequences, which is why you might not want to speak on an economic hypothetical without the full context of local conditions (maybe your intervention causes inflation to rise. Is the inflation rate comfortably low or dangerously close to hyperinflation?) and causes (are the students doing bad because of poverty, absent parents, bad teachers, underfunded schools, or badly designed standards? Your solution can't be agnostic of the cause). In a state governments vs federal government hypothetical, it is likely that the federal government will fall more in the center of a position, whereas state laws will likely fall further on both extremes, and you can likely contradict your own party platform if you start weighing-in on whether you would endorse states deciding for themselves (e.g. should a Republican say that they approve of individual states deciding to expand abortion availability?).
Hypotheticals can take place within an impossible reality. Some hypothetical discussions give you a certain premise, but they also included other bundled assumptions that could not concurrently exist in reality, i.e. a paradox. It could be a sort of perfect storm concocted as a gotcha. "What if you raise taxes on highly profitable corporations and it causes federal revenue to go way down?" "What if you pass more anti-poverty measures and poverty goes up?" "What if a stateless territory with no government had a better educated populace than us? Would you consider eliminating public education then?" You should not accept the premise of a question if it is both impossible to exist in reality and also constructed to make you appear wrong no matter what.
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". It is obvious that she would not have meant that undocumented immigrants actually vote in the mid-terms " No sir. That is not obvious.
– Mayo
Nov 20 at 21:27
30
Yes it is. Are you among "some people [who] deliberately misinterpreted this quote in order to claim that she was encouraging voter fraud"? The only misinterpretation is deliberate misinterpretation. It's not plausible that someone would fail to understand why the blue wave "includes" the undocumented without going all the way to "she wants fraud".
– Beanluc
Nov 20 at 22:12
5
Your first two "impossible" examples are very poor (and also very biased), as these possibilities are perfectly consistent with what we know about economics. And indeed, adverse effects from well intentioned policies are often at the heart of the debate around such issues. I highly recommend finding some more straightforward examples.
– jpmc26
Nov 20 at 23:58
2
@jpmc26 Indeed, they're not really "hypothetical questions" either. These are possible expected consequences for practical laws being put into effect, and anyone who proposes things like the mentioned raising taxes for enterprises must be able to answer them - because the actual thing they're trying to achieve is the #2, not #1; there's no point in raising taxes to raise taxes, you're raising taxes to raise revenues. If raising taxes decreases revenues, you must lower the taxes, obviously (and find other ways of reducing spending or increasing revenues).
– Luaan
Nov 21 at 11:30
2
And indeed, this is what happened in the 1910s/1920s in the USA. Federal tax rates went skyhigh, rich people dumped cash in tax-free municipal and state bonds, and the federal revenue plunged as a result.
– Lan
Nov 21 at 14:55
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Not answering hypothetical questions is basic politics. There is nothing to gain in answering them. If you are running for political office (or even getting a promotion in your job) you should realize that any interview is about expressing your own agenda. Often your agenda is at odds with the interviewer's agenda.
There are several techniques that a veteran reporter will use to trip up a politician. For example the "negative statement without a question": "Many people think you are a terrible person"; the "assumption question": "Have you stopped being a terrible person?". These are combined into the "hypothetical situation where the conclusion is negative": "What would you do in situation X since you are a terrible person"
Only the beginner politician will attempt to answer any of those with "I'm not a terrible person". The correct answer and the one that shows you can lead is: "I am going to tell you about my agenda now"
However, even veteran politicians will fall for the interviewer's tricks. One example that comes to mind is George Stephonapolous Asking Presidential candidate Mitt Romney: Do you think the state have the right to ban contraceptives? After repeated backs and forth Mitt Admitted that they possibly could if they wanted to. After that Romney became the candidate that wants to ban contraceptives. People still remember that, but have no idea what his agenda was.
George Mitt Interview
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– Sam I am♦
Nov 22 at 21:50
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Political interviews are adversarial situations: the interviewer doesn't want their program to be just a boring a political advert, so they try to add drama by asking hard questions in the hope of catching the politician out. Politicians learn how to play this game out of self defence.
The hypothetical question is move by the interviewer in this game. It allows the interviewer to posit a situation in which the politician must choose between two alternatives, either of which looks very bad.
For instance, if a politician is strongly against raising taxes the interviewer might ask "What if we were about to default on our debt?" If the politician replies "Never raise taxes" then they appear to be willing to countenance a default, which will weaken confidence in government finances and likely cause the government to have to pay extra for its loans. On the other hand if they say "Well, I guess we'd have to raise our taxes then." they appear indecisive and are likely to lose votes from people who oppose tax rises. Either way the politician has lost points, so the best counter-move is not to answer.
I've down voted this answer because of the broadness of the hypothetical question. Asking a federal politician, the question doesn't apply because the US Federal Government can't default on debt; they'd be required to restructure spending. Asked of a state or local politician, the question has stronger viability.
– Drunk Cynic
Nov 19 at 18:58
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@DrunkCynic Who said anything about America?
– Paul Johnson
Nov 20 at 8:03
I down voted the answer with the stated reason that the perceived scope was to broad, and you've just made it larger.
– Drunk Cynic
Nov 20 at 11:59
1
I've upvoted mostly for the second paragraph, which is exactly the answer (except that it would be probably be more accurate to say, "either of which can be taken out of context and spun to look very bad.")
– reirab
Nov 20 at 18:59
2
A broad answer is expected because the question itself is broad - applying to all politicians and not simply American politicians.
– SSight3
Nov 21 at 15:40
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There are a few reasons why.
The first would be that a hypothetical question usually deals with just that, an imaginary situation. Where real life deals with nuance, complexities and multi-variate factors, a hypothetical question is usually unrealistically black and white. Answering a question about something that would not happen, at least in the way it is framed, tells us nothing, so the politician risks having an unrealistic scenario define him or her in a way that they would probably deem to be unfair.
Usually, when a situation like that is posed, it's regarding a contested subject. While someone may agree with a politician 80% of the time, and the 20% of the time are on issues that happen infrequently or don't really impact their lives, the airwaves are filled with ads around election time hammering opponents on single, absurd issues on trivial matters that are blown up to be huge moral shortcomings, according to the ads. For the most part, still, when dealing with an uninformed electorate (in the USA, at least), the average voter is either too dim or too lazy to see the crass manipulation that goes into attack ads. That's why attack ads work. For anything that can be used to attack a politician, they are going to avoid going on the record in speech or action, until they absolutely have to, in order to deal with actual votes or legislation or to react to issues of the day. They certainly aren't going to paint a bulls-eye on themselves for a situation that is made up, if they can help it.
Finally, the politicians have little control over the situation when someone else makes up a scenario and sets the parameters for what they consider to be a response. US politicians, aware of how much 30 second ads define them, either by themselves or opposition, are PR-managed to the point of being automatons. They repeat the same meaningless slogans and catch-phrases that tested well in focus groups, and that matches with the slick advertising campaigns, their own and via "dark money" groups that they are illegally coordinating with. To respond to something outside their scripted narrative is to cede control in a way that could hurt their message.
None of this speaks well to the current state of US election campaigns. That's because it it is a cesspool, with expected results. I'm not sure how much these factors are true and how much politicians avoid saying anything, and get away with it, in nations that don't have billions in outside money and donations being spent in a perpetual election cycle, so, if someone is looking at it from a non-USA perspective, "your results may vary."
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Because what you think you might do in a hypothetical situation may turn out to be quite different to what you would actually do if that hypothetical situation were to come to pass.
Hence most politicians refuse to be answer when asked such questions, for fear that, if the hypothetical situation does one day occur, what they do may contradict what they said they would do - leading to accusations of hypocrisy, etc.
But you can always blame the situation has changed.
– user1589188
Nov 22 at 8:47
"what they do may contradict what they said they would do" - welcome to the world of campaign promises
– Hagen von Eitzen
2 days ago
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A lot of good answers, I just want to highlight one point.
Fundamentally a politician will want to come out of an interview giving the impression of being open and transparent, but without actually saying much.
While this is a bit pessimistic, when you look at how the opposition and the media acts, you want to give yourself the smallest possible surface area to attack as possible.
If you are a politician, and you are able to dodge a question with grace, it is advisable to do so.
For some reason, we generally consider it acceptable to avoid questions involving hypotheticals, so it's easy enough to smile and dismiss a question by saying "I don't want to get into hypotheticals".
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Other answers have done a good job of explaining the practical reasons politicians don't like to answer hypothetical questions. They didn't address, however, the supposed rationale for not answering hypothetical questions. Obviously, a politician must have some cover for not answering hypothetical questions and there must be a reason they feel comfortable not answering hypothetical questions and wouldn't ever say, "I don't answer hard questions."
The supposed logic is two-fold:
Hypothetical questions are typically under-specified which makes them impossible to answer. For example, "What would you do if a nuclear bomb detonated in the United States?". The problem with this question is we have to imagine a lot of details before we can answer it. Under current circumstances or in general? Do we know who detonated it? Do we know who built it? How large a bomb? And so on. Real questions have all their parameters filled in by the real world, hypothetical questions don't.
Hypothetical questions require us to imagine lots of other counterfactuals and many of those are hard. For example, "If the South had won the Civil War, would the United States exist today?". This requires us imagining so much to get from the end of the Civil War to today that requires essentially just guesses.
Of course, many hypothetical questions are precisely the sort politicians must answer. For example, if you advocate passing a particular change to the law, you must be able to answer questions like, "If we make that change to the law, what about X?". This is precisely what must be defended to defend a change in the law. So often it's just a nice sounding excuse.
I actually like your attempt more, although I do not quite agree. Politicians can dodge any questions, may just be like some others said they simply don't want to answer. The real issue here is why do the public usually let them walk away when they claim the question is hypothetical? Could it be the public all accept the rationales you listed above? But then if that is the case, that applies to all of us not just politicians and whoever asks hypothetical questions should be called an idiot immediately.
– user1589188
Nov 22 at 9:10
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@user1589188 In many fields, that pretty much is the norm (outright rejecting hypothetical questions for any purpose other than silliness). Try asking hypothetical questions in the field of history or engineering, for example. (By which I mean hypothetical questions where the reasoning above applies, such as the examples I gave.)
– David Schwartz
Nov 22 at 19:01
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TL;DR: Sometimes there are known plans to hypothetical situations (such as zombies appears in the US). But the less likely a hypothetical situation is, the more ridiculous a complete plan would seem, and the more simplified a general answer would be because of lack of resources going into it. Simplified answers are technically wrong in a lot of edge cases. Someone may get a quite different solution if they had a few people working on it for a few days.
Suppose A and B are two nuclear capable countries. Someone asked politician X in country A: "What do we do if country B nuked us?" And the answer was "to nuke them back".
One day, politician Y in country B publicly said that they should nuke country A. Some people relies: "Oh you are crazy!" "Please don't, or politician X will nuke us, and we all die." Some people tweets to politician X: "politician Y is going to nuke your country, what do you do now?"
If the answer is to ignore them, "oh, you dishonest man." If the answer is to nuke them back, "oh, you are crazy too", because politician Y is just a random nobody who isn't supposed to win the election or get any government positions. But politician X, who was much better than Y, now has the troubles to deal with all the following questions about when to use the nuclear weapons, in what exact conditions, and to whom, how many, etc.
Actually, if country B nuking country A is a very likely event, there would be a whole department in country A to watch what country B is doing, how to answer the attack, and how to minimize the damage and clean up everything afterward. The right answer of politician X might be: "Please ask department D, they have a whole set of too-complicated-to-explain plans." Because this is not likely, the answer simplifies to MAD in everyone's common sense, and the peaceful politician X was just repeating the common sense. But it is simplified. It has to be wrong or inexact in some specifically engineered scenario. Now politician X has to bear the responsibility of the whole department, which may not be even considered useful in the first place. This should be too much for a single person. Even if he can get a complete plan, "why do you explain MAD in that complicated way, and has the army and related parties agreed to everything?"
In the best case, his political opponents may find a rare scenario and question him more, distracting him from more useful works. In the worst case, someone provokes a third country unknowingly going into a rare scenario. But if he didn't answer, the uncertainty may have already deterred country B from nuking country A.
Some more practical hypothetical questions might be like:
- What happens if Z betrays you? Do you watch over him everyday, taking a lot of resources, or can I persuade Z to betray you because from your answer we know there isn't that much of security measures?
- What to do if some projects costed lives even if you had every thinkable safety measures? Do you just pay them a lot of money, say sorry, try to make it not happen again, and get away from it and move on?
Dealing with a hypothetical question could be very costly. It was rumored that Mao has encouraged birth because he was afraid of nuclear attacks, ending up with a lot of people and the one-child policy.
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What does MAD mean?
– Wildcard
Nov 21 at 21:52
Mutuall Assured Destruction
– David Schwartz
Nov 21 at 23:15
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The vast majority of the time, a politician's negatives come from what they have said, not what they haven't said. A politician can refuse to answer questions a thousand times without it hurting their career. Anything a politician does say, even if it is reasonable, can be taken out of context, treated as an incorrect response when it is a fine response, replayed in an attack ad over spooky music with ominous narration, later misquoted, and treated as a sufficient reason not to vote for that politician even though it is such a small part of their platform (or not even part of their platform at all).
The following are not examples of responses to hypothetical questions, but they are examples of how twisted quotes have been career-damaging and carried more weight than they should.
Example: famously, Al Gore is misquoted as claiming that he invented the internet, which he did not exactly claim, especially in those words; though he did credit himself with advancing the adoption of the internet in many ways, including the Supercomputer Network Study Act of 1986, the High Performance Computing and Communication Act of 1991, and other measures.
Example: Stacey Abrams gave a speech suggesting that the blue wave includes immigrants, documented and undocumented. It is obvious that she would not have meant that undocumented immigrants actually vote in the mid-terms (no politician would be dumb enough to say and mean this in a public forum), but that undocumented immigrants support the blue wave (in non-voting ways, including moral support and advocacy) and are supported by the blue wave. But some people deliberately misinterpreted this quote in order to claim that she was encouraging voter fraud.
Example involving a hypothetical: In the 1988 presidential debates, Dukakis's candidacy was sunk by a hypothetical question in which Bernard Shaw asked him "Governor, if Kitty Dukakis were raped and murdered, would you favor an irrevocable death penalty for the killer?" Dukakis answered "No, I don't, Bernard, and I think you know that I've opposed the death penalty during all of my life." You probably want a president whose principals and policies remain constant regardless of whether they are personally affected; otherwise their policies were wrong to begin with, or they become a selfish hypocrite as soon as they find themselves in the same position as the rest of us. This was in no way a change from what was already well known about Dukakis's platform. Rationally, this answer shouldn't have changed the electoral math at all. The public nevertheless reacted as though he was a cold-blooded psychopath. (This example was incorporated from the replies)
Hypothetical questions in particular have several other factors that make them politically dangerous to tackle:
They exist outside of the politician's message. If a politician wants voters to associate them with healthcare reform, then they don't want to answer a hypothetical that could lead to them being associate with a different topic.- Hypotheticals exist outside of planned responses. This means whatever answer the politician gives will not be premeditated, does not give the benefit of conducting any background research, and therefore, the response is more likely to be wrong.
- It also means that the politician has to formulate an answer without assistance from strategy consultants, the policy director, the communications department, and so on.
- It is not a practiced answer, and therefore more likely to be delivered nervously, ineptly, and with gaffes.
Hypotheticals lack the full context of the situation. If you are asked how you would handle a foreign country killing an American journalist, in real life you might take into account things like what is our diplomatic relationship with the country, what is our trade relationship with the country, what is the relative military strength between us and them, who within that country perpetrated the killing, why did they do it, who else knew, who authorized it, and so on. In a hypothetical, a lot of this context is obscured; so how are you supposed to answer what you would do when you've been blindfolded from knowing like 93% of the information that you would realistically take into account? You probably wouldn't have an answer in one minute like the interviewer is expecting; you would probably ask the opinion of your chief of staff, vice president, senior adviser, the Pentagon Joint Chiefs of Staff, and then think about the issue for 80 hours. Many economic situations are multi-faceted, and an intervention in one area likely has downstream consequences, which is why you might not want to speak on an economic hypothetical without the full context of local conditions (maybe your intervention causes inflation to rise. Is the inflation rate comfortably low or dangerously close to hyperinflation?) and causes (are the students doing bad because of poverty, absent parents, bad teachers, underfunded schools, or badly designed standards? Your solution can't be agnostic of the cause). In a state governments vs federal government hypothetical, it is likely that the federal government will fall more in the center of a position, whereas state laws will likely fall further on both extremes, and you can likely contradict your own party platform if you start weighing-in on whether you would endorse states deciding for themselves (e.g. should a Republican say that they approve of individual states deciding to expand abortion availability?).
Hypotheticals can take place within an impossible reality. Some hypothetical discussions give you a certain premise, but they also included other bundled assumptions that could not concurrently exist in reality, i.e. a paradox. It could be a sort of perfect storm concocted as a gotcha. "What if you raise taxes on highly profitable corporations and it causes federal revenue to go way down?" "What if you pass more anti-poverty measures and poverty goes up?" "What if a stateless territory with no government had a better educated populace than us? Would you consider eliminating public education then?" You should not accept the premise of a question if it is both impossible to exist in reality and also constructed to make you appear wrong no matter what.
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". It is obvious that she would not have meant that undocumented immigrants actually vote in the mid-terms " No sir. That is not obvious.
– Mayo
Nov 20 at 21:27
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Yes it is. Are you among "some people [who] deliberately misinterpreted this quote in order to claim that she was encouraging voter fraud"? The only misinterpretation is deliberate misinterpretation. It's not plausible that someone would fail to understand why the blue wave "includes" the undocumented without going all the way to "she wants fraud".
– Beanluc
Nov 20 at 22:12
5
Your first two "impossible" examples are very poor (and also very biased), as these possibilities are perfectly consistent with what we know about economics. And indeed, adverse effects from well intentioned policies are often at the heart of the debate around such issues. I highly recommend finding some more straightforward examples.
– jpmc26
Nov 20 at 23:58
2
@jpmc26 Indeed, they're not really "hypothetical questions" either. These are possible expected consequences for practical laws being put into effect, and anyone who proposes things like the mentioned raising taxes for enterprises must be able to answer them - because the actual thing they're trying to achieve is the #2, not #1; there's no point in raising taxes to raise taxes, you're raising taxes to raise revenues. If raising taxes decreases revenues, you must lower the taxes, obviously (and find other ways of reducing spending or increasing revenues).
– Luaan
Nov 21 at 11:30
2
And indeed, this is what happened in the 1910s/1920s in the USA. Federal tax rates went skyhigh, rich people dumped cash in tax-free municipal and state bonds, and the federal revenue plunged as a result.
– Lan
Nov 21 at 14:55
|
show 10 more comments
up vote
88
down vote
accepted
The vast majority of the time, a politician's negatives come from what they have said, not what they haven't said. A politician can refuse to answer questions a thousand times without it hurting their career. Anything a politician does say, even if it is reasonable, can be taken out of context, treated as an incorrect response when it is a fine response, replayed in an attack ad over spooky music with ominous narration, later misquoted, and treated as a sufficient reason not to vote for that politician even though it is such a small part of their platform (or not even part of their platform at all).
The following are not examples of responses to hypothetical questions, but they are examples of how twisted quotes have been career-damaging and carried more weight than they should.
Example: famously, Al Gore is misquoted as claiming that he invented the internet, which he did not exactly claim, especially in those words; though he did credit himself with advancing the adoption of the internet in many ways, including the Supercomputer Network Study Act of 1986, the High Performance Computing and Communication Act of 1991, and other measures.
Example: Stacey Abrams gave a speech suggesting that the blue wave includes immigrants, documented and undocumented. It is obvious that she would not have meant that undocumented immigrants actually vote in the mid-terms (no politician would be dumb enough to say and mean this in a public forum), but that undocumented immigrants support the blue wave (in non-voting ways, including moral support and advocacy) and are supported by the blue wave. But some people deliberately misinterpreted this quote in order to claim that she was encouraging voter fraud.
Example involving a hypothetical: In the 1988 presidential debates, Dukakis's candidacy was sunk by a hypothetical question in which Bernard Shaw asked him "Governor, if Kitty Dukakis were raped and murdered, would you favor an irrevocable death penalty for the killer?" Dukakis answered "No, I don't, Bernard, and I think you know that I've opposed the death penalty during all of my life." You probably want a president whose principals and policies remain constant regardless of whether they are personally affected; otherwise their policies were wrong to begin with, or they become a selfish hypocrite as soon as they find themselves in the same position as the rest of us. This was in no way a change from what was already well known about Dukakis's platform. Rationally, this answer shouldn't have changed the electoral math at all. The public nevertheless reacted as though he was a cold-blooded psychopath. (This example was incorporated from the replies)
Hypothetical questions in particular have several other factors that make them politically dangerous to tackle:
They exist outside of the politician's message. If a politician wants voters to associate them with healthcare reform, then they don't want to answer a hypothetical that could lead to them being associate with a different topic.- Hypotheticals exist outside of planned responses. This means whatever answer the politician gives will not be premeditated, does not give the benefit of conducting any background research, and therefore, the response is more likely to be wrong.
- It also means that the politician has to formulate an answer without assistance from strategy consultants, the policy director, the communications department, and so on.
- It is not a practiced answer, and therefore more likely to be delivered nervously, ineptly, and with gaffes.
Hypotheticals lack the full context of the situation. If you are asked how you would handle a foreign country killing an American journalist, in real life you might take into account things like what is our diplomatic relationship with the country, what is our trade relationship with the country, what is the relative military strength between us and them, who within that country perpetrated the killing, why did they do it, who else knew, who authorized it, and so on. In a hypothetical, a lot of this context is obscured; so how are you supposed to answer what you would do when you've been blindfolded from knowing like 93% of the information that you would realistically take into account? You probably wouldn't have an answer in one minute like the interviewer is expecting; you would probably ask the opinion of your chief of staff, vice president, senior adviser, the Pentagon Joint Chiefs of Staff, and then think about the issue for 80 hours. Many economic situations are multi-faceted, and an intervention in one area likely has downstream consequences, which is why you might not want to speak on an economic hypothetical without the full context of local conditions (maybe your intervention causes inflation to rise. Is the inflation rate comfortably low or dangerously close to hyperinflation?) and causes (are the students doing bad because of poverty, absent parents, bad teachers, underfunded schools, or badly designed standards? Your solution can't be agnostic of the cause). In a state governments vs federal government hypothetical, it is likely that the federal government will fall more in the center of a position, whereas state laws will likely fall further on both extremes, and you can likely contradict your own party platform if you start weighing-in on whether you would endorse states deciding for themselves (e.g. should a Republican say that they approve of individual states deciding to expand abortion availability?).
Hypotheticals can take place within an impossible reality. Some hypothetical discussions give you a certain premise, but they also included other bundled assumptions that could not concurrently exist in reality, i.e. a paradox. It could be a sort of perfect storm concocted as a gotcha. "What if you raise taxes on highly profitable corporations and it causes federal revenue to go way down?" "What if you pass more anti-poverty measures and poverty goes up?" "What if a stateless territory with no government had a better educated populace than us? Would you consider eliminating public education then?" You should not accept the premise of a question if it is both impossible to exist in reality and also constructed to make you appear wrong no matter what.
9
". It is obvious that she would not have meant that undocumented immigrants actually vote in the mid-terms " No sir. That is not obvious.
– Mayo
Nov 20 at 21:27
30
Yes it is. Are you among "some people [who] deliberately misinterpreted this quote in order to claim that she was encouraging voter fraud"? The only misinterpretation is deliberate misinterpretation. It's not plausible that someone would fail to understand why the blue wave "includes" the undocumented without going all the way to "she wants fraud".
– Beanluc
Nov 20 at 22:12
5
Your first two "impossible" examples are very poor (and also very biased), as these possibilities are perfectly consistent with what we know about economics. And indeed, adverse effects from well intentioned policies are often at the heart of the debate around such issues. I highly recommend finding some more straightforward examples.
– jpmc26
Nov 20 at 23:58
2
@jpmc26 Indeed, they're not really "hypothetical questions" either. These are possible expected consequences for practical laws being put into effect, and anyone who proposes things like the mentioned raising taxes for enterprises must be able to answer them - because the actual thing they're trying to achieve is the #2, not #1; there's no point in raising taxes to raise taxes, you're raising taxes to raise revenues. If raising taxes decreases revenues, you must lower the taxes, obviously (and find other ways of reducing spending or increasing revenues).
– Luaan
Nov 21 at 11:30
2
And indeed, this is what happened in the 1910s/1920s in the USA. Federal tax rates went skyhigh, rich people dumped cash in tax-free municipal and state bonds, and the federal revenue plunged as a result.
– Lan
Nov 21 at 14:55
|
show 10 more comments
up vote
88
down vote
accepted
up vote
88
down vote
accepted
The vast majority of the time, a politician's negatives come from what they have said, not what they haven't said. A politician can refuse to answer questions a thousand times without it hurting their career. Anything a politician does say, even if it is reasonable, can be taken out of context, treated as an incorrect response when it is a fine response, replayed in an attack ad over spooky music with ominous narration, later misquoted, and treated as a sufficient reason not to vote for that politician even though it is such a small part of their platform (or not even part of their platform at all).
The following are not examples of responses to hypothetical questions, but they are examples of how twisted quotes have been career-damaging and carried more weight than they should.
Example: famously, Al Gore is misquoted as claiming that he invented the internet, which he did not exactly claim, especially in those words; though he did credit himself with advancing the adoption of the internet in many ways, including the Supercomputer Network Study Act of 1986, the High Performance Computing and Communication Act of 1991, and other measures.
Example: Stacey Abrams gave a speech suggesting that the blue wave includes immigrants, documented and undocumented. It is obvious that she would not have meant that undocumented immigrants actually vote in the mid-terms (no politician would be dumb enough to say and mean this in a public forum), but that undocumented immigrants support the blue wave (in non-voting ways, including moral support and advocacy) and are supported by the blue wave. But some people deliberately misinterpreted this quote in order to claim that she was encouraging voter fraud.
Example involving a hypothetical: In the 1988 presidential debates, Dukakis's candidacy was sunk by a hypothetical question in which Bernard Shaw asked him "Governor, if Kitty Dukakis were raped and murdered, would you favor an irrevocable death penalty for the killer?" Dukakis answered "No, I don't, Bernard, and I think you know that I've opposed the death penalty during all of my life." You probably want a president whose principals and policies remain constant regardless of whether they are personally affected; otherwise their policies were wrong to begin with, or they become a selfish hypocrite as soon as they find themselves in the same position as the rest of us. This was in no way a change from what was already well known about Dukakis's platform. Rationally, this answer shouldn't have changed the electoral math at all. The public nevertheless reacted as though he was a cold-blooded psychopath. (This example was incorporated from the replies)
Hypothetical questions in particular have several other factors that make them politically dangerous to tackle:
They exist outside of the politician's message. If a politician wants voters to associate them with healthcare reform, then they don't want to answer a hypothetical that could lead to them being associate with a different topic.- Hypotheticals exist outside of planned responses. This means whatever answer the politician gives will not be premeditated, does not give the benefit of conducting any background research, and therefore, the response is more likely to be wrong.
- It also means that the politician has to formulate an answer without assistance from strategy consultants, the policy director, the communications department, and so on.
- It is not a practiced answer, and therefore more likely to be delivered nervously, ineptly, and with gaffes.
Hypotheticals lack the full context of the situation. If you are asked how you would handle a foreign country killing an American journalist, in real life you might take into account things like what is our diplomatic relationship with the country, what is our trade relationship with the country, what is the relative military strength between us and them, who within that country perpetrated the killing, why did they do it, who else knew, who authorized it, and so on. In a hypothetical, a lot of this context is obscured; so how are you supposed to answer what you would do when you've been blindfolded from knowing like 93% of the information that you would realistically take into account? You probably wouldn't have an answer in one minute like the interviewer is expecting; you would probably ask the opinion of your chief of staff, vice president, senior adviser, the Pentagon Joint Chiefs of Staff, and then think about the issue for 80 hours. Many economic situations are multi-faceted, and an intervention in one area likely has downstream consequences, which is why you might not want to speak on an economic hypothetical without the full context of local conditions (maybe your intervention causes inflation to rise. Is the inflation rate comfortably low or dangerously close to hyperinflation?) and causes (are the students doing bad because of poverty, absent parents, bad teachers, underfunded schools, or badly designed standards? Your solution can't be agnostic of the cause). In a state governments vs federal government hypothetical, it is likely that the federal government will fall more in the center of a position, whereas state laws will likely fall further on both extremes, and you can likely contradict your own party platform if you start weighing-in on whether you would endorse states deciding for themselves (e.g. should a Republican say that they approve of individual states deciding to expand abortion availability?).
Hypotheticals can take place within an impossible reality. Some hypothetical discussions give you a certain premise, but they also included other bundled assumptions that could not concurrently exist in reality, i.e. a paradox. It could be a sort of perfect storm concocted as a gotcha. "What if you raise taxes on highly profitable corporations and it causes federal revenue to go way down?" "What if you pass more anti-poverty measures and poverty goes up?" "What if a stateless territory with no government had a better educated populace than us? Would you consider eliminating public education then?" You should not accept the premise of a question if it is both impossible to exist in reality and also constructed to make you appear wrong no matter what.
The vast majority of the time, a politician's negatives come from what they have said, not what they haven't said. A politician can refuse to answer questions a thousand times without it hurting their career. Anything a politician does say, even if it is reasonable, can be taken out of context, treated as an incorrect response when it is a fine response, replayed in an attack ad over spooky music with ominous narration, later misquoted, and treated as a sufficient reason not to vote for that politician even though it is such a small part of their platform (or not even part of their platform at all).
The following are not examples of responses to hypothetical questions, but they are examples of how twisted quotes have been career-damaging and carried more weight than they should.
Example: famously, Al Gore is misquoted as claiming that he invented the internet, which he did not exactly claim, especially in those words; though he did credit himself with advancing the adoption of the internet in many ways, including the Supercomputer Network Study Act of 1986, the High Performance Computing and Communication Act of 1991, and other measures.
Example: Stacey Abrams gave a speech suggesting that the blue wave includes immigrants, documented and undocumented. It is obvious that she would not have meant that undocumented immigrants actually vote in the mid-terms (no politician would be dumb enough to say and mean this in a public forum), but that undocumented immigrants support the blue wave (in non-voting ways, including moral support and advocacy) and are supported by the blue wave. But some people deliberately misinterpreted this quote in order to claim that she was encouraging voter fraud.
Example involving a hypothetical: In the 1988 presidential debates, Dukakis's candidacy was sunk by a hypothetical question in which Bernard Shaw asked him "Governor, if Kitty Dukakis were raped and murdered, would you favor an irrevocable death penalty for the killer?" Dukakis answered "No, I don't, Bernard, and I think you know that I've opposed the death penalty during all of my life." You probably want a president whose principals and policies remain constant regardless of whether they are personally affected; otherwise their policies were wrong to begin with, or they become a selfish hypocrite as soon as they find themselves in the same position as the rest of us. This was in no way a change from what was already well known about Dukakis's platform. Rationally, this answer shouldn't have changed the electoral math at all. The public nevertheless reacted as though he was a cold-blooded psychopath. (This example was incorporated from the replies)
Hypothetical questions in particular have several other factors that make them politically dangerous to tackle:
They exist outside of the politician's message. If a politician wants voters to associate them with healthcare reform, then they don't want to answer a hypothetical that could lead to them being associate with a different topic.- Hypotheticals exist outside of planned responses. This means whatever answer the politician gives will not be premeditated, does not give the benefit of conducting any background research, and therefore, the response is more likely to be wrong.
- It also means that the politician has to formulate an answer without assistance from strategy consultants, the policy director, the communications department, and so on.
- It is not a practiced answer, and therefore more likely to be delivered nervously, ineptly, and with gaffes.
Hypotheticals lack the full context of the situation. If you are asked how you would handle a foreign country killing an American journalist, in real life you might take into account things like what is our diplomatic relationship with the country, what is our trade relationship with the country, what is the relative military strength between us and them, who within that country perpetrated the killing, why did they do it, who else knew, who authorized it, and so on. In a hypothetical, a lot of this context is obscured; so how are you supposed to answer what you would do when you've been blindfolded from knowing like 93% of the information that you would realistically take into account? You probably wouldn't have an answer in one minute like the interviewer is expecting; you would probably ask the opinion of your chief of staff, vice president, senior adviser, the Pentagon Joint Chiefs of Staff, and then think about the issue for 80 hours. Many economic situations are multi-faceted, and an intervention in one area likely has downstream consequences, which is why you might not want to speak on an economic hypothetical without the full context of local conditions (maybe your intervention causes inflation to rise. Is the inflation rate comfortably low or dangerously close to hyperinflation?) and causes (are the students doing bad because of poverty, absent parents, bad teachers, underfunded schools, or badly designed standards? Your solution can't be agnostic of the cause). In a state governments vs federal government hypothetical, it is likely that the federal government will fall more in the center of a position, whereas state laws will likely fall further on both extremes, and you can likely contradict your own party platform if you start weighing-in on whether you would endorse states deciding for themselves (e.g. should a Republican say that they approve of individual states deciding to expand abortion availability?).
Hypotheticals can take place within an impossible reality. Some hypothetical discussions give you a certain premise, but they also included other bundled assumptions that could not concurrently exist in reality, i.e. a paradox. It could be a sort of perfect storm concocted as a gotcha. "What if you raise taxes on highly profitable corporations and it causes federal revenue to go way down?" "What if you pass more anti-poverty measures and poverty goes up?" "What if a stateless territory with no government had a better educated populace than us? Would you consider eliminating public education then?" You should not accept the premise of a question if it is both impossible to exist in reality and also constructed to make you appear wrong no matter what.
edited Nov 21 at 20:46
answered Nov 19 at 19:26
John
2,445419
2,445419
9
". It is obvious that she would not have meant that undocumented immigrants actually vote in the mid-terms " No sir. That is not obvious.
– Mayo
Nov 20 at 21:27
30
Yes it is. Are you among "some people [who] deliberately misinterpreted this quote in order to claim that she was encouraging voter fraud"? The only misinterpretation is deliberate misinterpretation. It's not plausible that someone would fail to understand why the blue wave "includes" the undocumented without going all the way to "she wants fraud".
– Beanluc
Nov 20 at 22:12
5
Your first two "impossible" examples are very poor (and also very biased), as these possibilities are perfectly consistent with what we know about economics. And indeed, adverse effects from well intentioned policies are often at the heart of the debate around such issues. I highly recommend finding some more straightforward examples.
– jpmc26
Nov 20 at 23:58
2
@jpmc26 Indeed, they're not really "hypothetical questions" either. These are possible expected consequences for practical laws being put into effect, and anyone who proposes things like the mentioned raising taxes for enterprises must be able to answer them - because the actual thing they're trying to achieve is the #2, not #1; there's no point in raising taxes to raise taxes, you're raising taxes to raise revenues. If raising taxes decreases revenues, you must lower the taxes, obviously (and find other ways of reducing spending or increasing revenues).
– Luaan
Nov 21 at 11:30
2
And indeed, this is what happened in the 1910s/1920s in the USA. Federal tax rates went skyhigh, rich people dumped cash in tax-free municipal and state bonds, and the federal revenue plunged as a result.
– Lan
Nov 21 at 14:55
|
show 10 more comments
9
". It is obvious that she would not have meant that undocumented immigrants actually vote in the mid-terms " No sir. That is not obvious.
– Mayo
Nov 20 at 21:27
30
Yes it is. Are you among "some people [who] deliberately misinterpreted this quote in order to claim that she was encouraging voter fraud"? The only misinterpretation is deliberate misinterpretation. It's not plausible that someone would fail to understand why the blue wave "includes" the undocumented without going all the way to "she wants fraud".
– Beanluc
Nov 20 at 22:12
5
Your first two "impossible" examples are very poor (and also very biased), as these possibilities are perfectly consistent with what we know about economics. And indeed, adverse effects from well intentioned policies are often at the heart of the debate around such issues. I highly recommend finding some more straightforward examples.
– jpmc26
Nov 20 at 23:58
2
@jpmc26 Indeed, they're not really "hypothetical questions" either. These are possible expected consequences for practical laws being put into effect, and anyone who proposes things like the mentioned raising taxes for enterprises must be able to answer them - because the actual thing they're trying to achieve is the #2, not #1; there's no point in raising taxes to raise taxes, you're raising taxes to raise revenues. If raising taxes decreases revenues, you must lower the taxes, obviously (and find other ways of reducing spending or increasing revenues).
– Luaan
Nov 21 at 11:30
2
And indeed, this is what happened in the 1910s/1920s in the USA. Federal tax rates went skyhigh, rich people dumped cash in tax-free municipal and state bonds, and the federal revenue plunged as a result.
– Lan
Nov 21 at 14:55
9
9
". It is obvious that she would not have meant that undocumented immigrants actually vote in the mid-terms " No sir. That is not obvious.
– Mayo
Nov 20 at 21:27
". It is obvious that she would not have meant that undocumented immigrants actually vote in the mid-terms " No sir. That is not obvious.
– Mayo
Nov 20 at 21:27
30
30
Yes it is. Are you among "some people [who] deliberately misinterpreted this quote in order to claim that she was encouraging voter fraud"? The only misinterpretation is deliberate misinterpretation. It's not plausible that someone would fail to understand why the blue wave "includes" the undocumented without going all the way to "she wants fraud".
– Beanluc
Nov 20 at 22:12
Yes it is. Are you among "some people [who] deliberately misinterpreted this quote in order to claim that she was encouraging voter fraud"? The only misinterpretation is deliberate misinterpretation. It's not plausible that someone would fail to understand why the blue wave "includes" the undocumented without going all the way to "she wants fraud".
– Beanluc
Nov 20 at 22:12
5
5
Your first two "impossible" examples are very poor (and also very biased), as these possibilities are perfectly consistent with what we know about economics. And indeed, adverse effects from well intentioned policies are often at the heart of the debate around such issues. I highly recommend finding some more straightforward examples.
– jpmc26
Nov 20 at 23:58
Your first two "impossible" examples are very poor (and also very biased), as these possibilities are perfectly consistent with what we know about economics. And indeed, adverse effects from well intentioned policies are often at the heart of the debate around such issues. I highly recommend finding some more straightforward examples.
– jpmc26
Nov 20 at 23:58
2
2
@jpmc26 Indeed, they're not really "hypothetical questions" either. These are possible expected consequences for practical laws being put into effect, and anyone who proposes things like the mentioned raising taxes for enterprises must be able to answer them - because the actual thing they're trying to achieve is the #2, not #1; there's no point in raising taxes to raise taxes, you're raising taxes to raise revenues. If raising taxes decreases revenues, you must lower the taxes, obviously (and find other ways of reducing spending or increasing revenues).
– Luaan
Nov 21 at 11:30
@jpmc26 Indeed, they're not really "hypothetical questions" either. These are possible expected consequences for practical laws being put into effect, and anyone who proposes things like the mentioned raising taxes for enterprises must be able to answer them - because the actual thing they're trying to achieve is the #2, not #1; there's no point in raising taxes to raise taxes, you're raising taxes to raise revenues. If raising taxes decreases revenues, you must lower the taxes, obviously (and find other ways of reducing spending or increasing revenues).
– Luaan
Nov 21 at 11:30
2
2
And indeed, this is what happened in the 1910s/1920s in the USA. Federal tax rates went skyhigh, rich people dumped cash in tax-free municipal and state bonds, and the federal revenue plunged as a result.
– Lan
Nov 21 at 14:55
And indeed, this is what happened in the 1910s/1920s in the USA. Federal tax rates went skyhigh, rich people dumped cash in tax-free municipal and state bonds, and the federal revenue plunged as a result.
– Lan
Nov 21 at 14:55
|
show 10 more comments
up vote
47
down vote
Not answering hypothetical questions is basic politics. There is nothing to gain in answering them. If you are running for political office (or even getting a promotion in your job) you should realize that any interview is about expressing your own agenda. Often your agenda is at odds with the interviewer's agenda.
There are several techniques that a veteran reporter will use to trip up a politician. For example the "negative statement without a question": "Many people think you are a terrible person"; the "assumption question": "Have you stopped being a terrible person?". These are combined into the "hypothetical situation where the conclusion is negative": "What would you do in situation X since you are a terrible person"
Only the beginner politician will attempt to answer any of those with "I'm not a terrible person". The correct answer and the one that shows you can lead is: "I am going to tell you about my agenda now"
However, even veteran politicians will fall for the interviewer's tricks. One example that comes to mind is George Stephonapolous Asking Presidential candidate Mitt Romney: Do you think the state have the right to ban contraceptives? After repeated backs and forth Mitt Admitted that they possibly could if they wanted to. After that Romney became the candidate that wants to ban contraceptives. People still remember that, but have no idea what his agenda was.
George Mitt Interview
Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.
– Sam I am♦
Nov 22 at 21:50
add a comment |
up vote
47
down vote
Not answering hypothetical questions is basic politics. There is nothing to gain in answering them. If you are running for political office (or even getting a promotion in your job) you should realize that any interview is about expressing your own agenda. Often your agenda is at odds with the interviewer's agenda.
There are several techniques that a veteran reporter will use to trip up a politician. For example the "negative statement without a question": "Many people think you are a terrible person"; the "assumption question": "Have you stopped being a terrible person?". These are combined into the "hypothetical situation where the conclusion is negative": "What would you do in situation X since you are a terrible person"
Only the beginner politician will attempt to answer any of those with "I'm not a terrible person". The correct answer and the one that shows you can lead is: "I am going to tell you about my agenda now"
However, even veteran politicians will fall for the interviewer's tricks. One example that comes to mind is George Stephonapolous Asking Presidential candidate Mitt Romney: Do you think the state have the right to ban contraceptives? After repeated backs and forth Mitt Admitted that they possibly could if they wanted to. After that Romney became the candidate that wants to ban contraceptives. People still remember that, but have no idea what his agenda was.
George Mitt Interview
Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.
– Sam I am♦
Nov 22 at 21:50
add a comment |
up vote
47
down vote
up vote
47
down vote
Not answering hypothetical questions is basic politics. There is nothing to gain in answering them. If you are running for political office (or even getting a promotion in your job) you should realize that any interview is about expressing your own agenda. Often your agenda is at odds with the interviewer's agenda.
There are several techniques that a veteran reporter will use to trip up a politician. For example the "negative statement without a question": "Many people think you are a terrible person"; the "assumption question": "Have you stopped being a terrible person?". These are combined into the "hypothetical situation where the conclusion is negative": "What would you do in situation X since you are a terrible person"
Only the beginner politician will attempt to answer any of those with "I'm not a terrible person". The correct answer and the one that shows you can lead is: "I am going to tell you about my agenda now"
However, even veteran politicians will fall for the interviewer's tricks. One example that comes to mind is George Stephonapolous Asking Presidential candidate Mitt Romney: Do you think the state have the right to ban contraceptives? After repeated backs and forth Mitt Admitted that they possibly could if they wanted to. After that Romney became the candidate that wants to ban contraceptives. People still remember that, but have no idea what his agenda was.
George Mitt Interview
Not answering hypothetical questions is basic politics. There is nothing to gain in answering them. If you are running for political office (or even getting a promotion in your job) you should realize that any interview is about expressing your own agenda. Often your agenda is at odds with the interviewer's agenda.
There are several techniques that a veteran reporter will use to trip up a politician. For example the "negative statement without a question": "Many people think you are a terrible person"; the "assumption question": "Have you stopped being a terrible person?". These are combined into the "hypothetical situation where the conclusion is negative": "What would you do in situation X since you are a terrible person"
Only the beginner politician will attempt to answer any of those with "I'm not a terrible person". The correct answer and the one that shows you can lead is: "I am going to tell you about my agenda now"
However, even veteran politicians will fall for the interviewer's tricks. One example that comes to mind is George Stephonapolous Asking Presidential candidate Mitt Romney: Do you think the state have the right to ban contraceptives? After repeated backs and forth Mitt Admitted that they possibly could if they wanted to. After that Romney became the candidate that wants to ban contraceptives. People still remember that, but have no idea what his agenda was.
George Mitt Interview
answered Nov 19 at 15:36
Frank Cedeno
2,6461720
2,6461720
Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.
– Sam I am♦
Nov 22 at 21:50
add a comment |
Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.
– Sam I am♦
Nov 22 at 21:50
Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.
– Sam I am♦
Nov 22 at 21:50
Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.
– Sam I am♦
Nov 22 at 21:50
add a comment |
up vote
19
down vote
Political interviews are adversarial situations: the interviewer doesn't want their program to be just a boring a political advert, so they try to add drama by asking hard questions in the hope of catching the politician out. Politicians learn how to play this game out of self defence.
The hypothetical question is move by the interviewer in this game. It allows the interviewer to posit a situation in which the politician must choose between two alternatives, either of which looks very bad.
For instance, if a politician is strongly against raising taxes the interviewer might ask "What if we were about to default on our debt?" If the politician replies "Never raise taxes" then they appear to be willing to countenance a default, which will weaken confidence in government finances and likely cause the government to have to pay extra for its loans. On the other hand if they say "Well, I guess we'd have to raise our taxes then." they appear indecisive and are likely to lose votes from people who oppose tax rises. Either way the politician has lost points, so the best counter-move is not to answer.
I've down voted this answer because of the broadness of the hypothetical question. Asking a federal politician, the question doesn't apply because the US Federal Government can't default on debt; they'd be required to restructure spending. Asked of a state or local politician, the question has stronger viability.
– Drunk Cynic
Nov 19 at 18:58
11
@DrunkCynic Who said anything about America?
– Paul Johnson
Nov 20 at 8:03
I down voted the answer with the stated reason that the perceived scope was to broad, and you've just made it larger.
– Drunk Cynic
Nov 20 at 11:59
1
I've upvoted mostly for the second paragraph, which is exactly the answer (except that it would be probably be more accurate to say, "either of which can be taken out of context and spun to look very bad.")
– reirab
Nov 20 at 18:59
2
A broad answer is expected because the question itself is broad - applying to all politicians and not simply American politicians.
– SSight3
Nov 21 at 15:40
|
show 1 more comment
up vote
19
down vote
Political interviews are adversarial situations: the interviewer doesn't want their program to be just a boring a political advert, so they try to add drama by asking hard questions in the hope of catching the politician out. Politicians learn how to play this game out of self defence.
The hypothetical question is move by the interviewer in this game. It allows the interviewer to posit a situation in which the politician must choose between two alternatives, either of which looks very bad.
For instance, if a politician is strongly against raising taxes the interviewer might ask "What if we were about to default on our debt?" If the politician replies "Never raise taxes" then they appear to be willing to countenance a default, which will weaken confidence in government finances and likely cause the government to have to pay extra for its loans. On the other hand if they say "Well, I guess we'd have to raise our taxes then." they appear indecisive and are likely to lose votes from people who oppose tax rises. Either way the politician has lost points, so the best counter-move is not to answer.
I've down voted this answer because of the broadness of the hypothetical question. Asking a federal politician, the question doesn't apply because the US Federal Government can't default on debt; they'd be required to restructure spending. Asked of a state or local politician, the question has stronger viability.
– Drunk Cynic
Nov 19 at 18:58
11
@DrunkCynic Who said anything about America?
– Paul Johnson
Nov 20 at 8:03
I down voted the answer with the stated reason that the perceived scope was to broad, and you've just made it larger.
– Drunk Cynic
Nov 20 at 11:59
1
I've upvoted mostly for the second paragraph, which is exactly the answer (except that it would be probably be more accurate to say, "either of which can be taken out of context and spun to look very bad.")
– reirab
Nov 20 at 18:59
2
A broad answer is expected because the question itself is broad - applying to all politicians and not simply American politicians.
– SSight3
Nov 21 at 15:40
|
show 1 more comment
up vote
19
down vote
up vote
19
down vote
Political interviews are adversarial situations: the interviewer doesn't want their program to be just a boring a political advert, so they try to add drama by asking hard questions in the hope of catching the politician out. Politicians learn how to play this game out of self defence.
The hypothetical question is move by the interviewer in this game. It allows the interviewer to posit a situation in which the politician must choose between two alternatives, either of which looks very bad.
For instance, if a politician is strongly against raising taxes the interviewer might ask "What if we were about to default on our debt?" If the politician replies "Never raise taxes" then they appear to be willing to countenance a default, which will weaken confidence in government finances and likely cause the government to have to pay extra for its loans. On the other hand if they say "Well, I guess we'd have to raise our taxes then." they appear indecisive and are likely to lose votes from people who oppose tax rises. Either way the politician has lost points, so the best counter-move is not to answer.
Political interviews are adversarial situations: the interviewer doesn't want their program to be just a boring a political advert, so they try to add drama by asking hard questions in the hope of catching the politician out. Politicians learn how to play this game out of self defence.
The hypothetical question is move by the interviewer in this game. It allows the interviewer to posit a situation in which the politician must choose between two alternatives, either of which looks very bad.
For instance, if a politician is strongly against raising taxes the interviewer might ask "What if we were about to default on our debt?" If the politician replies "Never raise taxes" then they appear to be willing to countenance a default, which will weaken confidence in government finances and likely cause the government to have to pay extra for its loans. On the other hand if they say "Well, I guess we'd have to raise our taxes then." they appear indecisive and are likely to lose votes from people who oppose tax rises. Either way the politician has lost points, so the best counter-move is not to answer.
answered Nov 19 at 17:06
Paul Johnson
5,98731530
5,98731530
I've down voted this answer because of the broadness of the hypothetical question. Asking a federal politician, the question doesn't apply because the US Federal Government can't default on debt; they'd be required to restructure spending. Asked of a state or local politician, the question has stronger viability.
– Drunk Cynic
Nov 19 at 18:58
11
@DrunkCynic Who said anything about America?
– Paul Johnson
Nov 20 at 8:03
I down voted the answer with the stated reason that the perceived scope was to broad, and you've just made it larger.
– Drunk Cynic
Nov 20 at 11:59
1
I've upvoted mostly for the second paragraph, which is exactly the answer (except that it would be probably be more accurate to say, "either of which can be taken out of context and spun to look very bad.")
– reirab
Nov 20 at 18:59
2
A broad answer is expected because the question itself is broad - applying to all politicians and not simply American politicians.
– SSight3
Nov 21 at 15:40
|
show 1 more comment
I've down voted this answer because of the broadness of the hypothetical question. Asking a federal politician, the question doesn't apply because the US Federal Government can't default on debt; they'd be required to restructure spending. Asked of a state or local politician, the question has stronger viability.
– Drunk Cynic
Nov 19 at 18:58
11
@DrunkCynic Who said anything about America?
– Paul Johnson
Nov 20 at 8:03
I down voted the answer with the stated reason that the perceived scope was to broad, and you've just made it larger.
– Drunk Cynic
Nov 20 at 11:59
1
I've upvoted mostly for the second paragraph, which is exactly the answer (except that it would be probably be more accurate to say, "either of which can be taken out of context and spun to look very bad.")
– reirab
Nov 20 at 18:59
2
A broad answer is expected because the question itself is broad - applying to all politicians and not simply American politicians.
– SSight3
Nov 21 at 15:40
I've down voted this answer because of the broadness of the hypothetical question. Asking a federal politician, the question doesn't apply because the US Federal Government can't default on debt; they'd be required to restructure spending. Asked of a state or local politician, the question has stronger viability.
– Drunk Cynic
Nov 19 at 18:58
I've down voted this answer because of the broadness of the hypothetical question. Asking a federal politician, the question doesn't apply because the US Federal Government can't default on debt; they'd be required to restructure spending. Asked of a state or local politician, the question has stronger viability.
– Drunk Cynic
Nov 19 at 18:58
11
11
@DrunkCynic Who said anything about America?
– Paul Johnson
Nov 20 at 8:03
@DrunkCynic Who said anything about America?
– Paul Johnson
Nov 20 at 8:03
I down voted the answer with the stated reason that the perceived scope was to broad, and you've just made it larger.
– Drunk Cynic
Nov 20 at 11:59
I down voted the answer with the stated reason that the perceived scope was to broad, and you've just made it larger.
– Drunk Cynic
Nov 20 at 11:59
1
1
I've upvoted mostly for the second paragraph, which is exactly the answer (except that it would be probably be more accurate to say, "either of which can be taken out of context and spun to look very bad.")
– reirab
Nov 20 at 18:59
I've upvoted mostly for the second paragraph, which is exactly the answer (except that it would be probably be more accurate to say, "either of which can be taken out of context and spun to look very bad.")
– reirab
Nov 20 at 18:59
2
2
A broad answer is expected because the question itself is broad - applying to all politicians and not simply American politicians.
– SSight3
Nov 21 at 15:40
A broad answer is expected because the question itself is broad - applying to all politicians and not simply American politicians.
– SSight3
Nov 21 at 15:40
|
show 1 more comment
up vote
8
down vote
There are a few reasons why.
The first would be that a hypothetical question usually deals with just that, an imaginary situation. Where real life deals with nuance, complexities and multi-variate factors, a hypothetical question is usually unrealistically black and white. Answering a question about something that would not happen, at least in the way it is framed, tells us nothing, so the politician risks having an unrealistic scenario define him or her in a way that they would probably deem to be unfair.
Usually, when a situation like that is posed, it's regarding a contested subject. While someone may agree with a politician 80% of the time, and the 20% of the time are on issues that happen infrequently or don't really impact their lives, the airwaves are filled with ads around election time hammering opponents on single, absurd issues on trivial matters that are blown up to be huge moral shortcomings, according to the ads. For the most part, still, when dealing with an uninformed electorate (in the USA, at least), the average voter is either too dim or too lazy to see the crass manipulation that goes into attack ads. That's why attack ads work. For anything that can be used to attack a politician, they are going to avoid going on the record in speech or action, until they absolutely have to, in order to deal with actual votes or legislation or to react to issues of the day. They certainly aren't going to paint a bulls-eye on themselves for a situation that is made up, if they can help it.
Finally, the politicians have little control over the situation when someone else makes up a scenario and sets the parameters for what they consider to be a response. US politicians, aware of how much 30 second ads define them, either by themselves or opposition, are PR-managed to the point of being automatons. They repeat the same meaningless slogans and catch-phrases that tested well in focus groups, and that matches with the slick advertising campaigns, their own and via "dark money" groups that they are illegally coordinating with. To respond to something outside their scripted narrative is to cede control in a way that could hurt their message.
None of this speaks well to the current state of US election campaigns. That's because it it is a cesspool, with expected results. I'm not sure how much these factors are true and how much politicians avoid saying anything, and get away with it, in nations that don't have billions in outside money and donations being spent in a perpetual election cycle, so, if someone is looking at it from a non-USA perspective, "your results may vary."
add a comment |
up vote
8
down vote
There are a few reasons why.
The first would be that a hypothetical question usually deals with just that, an imaginary situation. Where real life deals with nuance, complexities and multi-variate factors, a hypothetical question is usually unrealistically black and white. Answering a question about something that would not happen, at least in the way it is framed, tells us nothing, so the politician risks having an unrealistic scenario define him or her in a way that they would probably deem to be unfair.
Usually, when a situation like that is posed, it's regarding a contested subject. While someone may agree with a politician 80% of the time, and the 20% of the time are on issues that happen infrequently or don't really impact their lives, the airwaves are filled with ads around election time hammering opponents on single, absurd issues on trivial matters that are blown up to be huge moral shortcomings, according to the ads. For the most part, still, when dealing with an uninformed electorate (in the USA, at least), the average voter is either too dim or too lazy to see the crass manipulation that goes into attack ads. That's why attack ads work. For anything that can be used to attack a politician, they are going to avoid going on the record in speech or action, until they absolutely have to, in order to deal with actual votes or legislation or to react to issues of the day. They certainly aren't going to paint a bulls-eye on themselves for a situation that is made up, if they can help it.
Finally, the politicians have little control over the situation when someone else makes up a scenario and sets the parameters for what they consider to be a response. US politicians, aware of how much 30 second ads define them, either by themselves or opposition, are PR-managed to the point of being automatons. They repeat the same meaningless slogans and catch-phrases that tested well in focus groups, and that matches with the slick advertising campaigns, their own and via "dark money" groups that they are illegally coordinating with. To respond to something outside their scripted narrative is to cede control in a way that could hurt their message.
None of this speaks well to the current state of US election campaigns. That's because it it is a cesspool, with expected results. I'm not sure how much these factors are true and how much politicians avoid saying anything, and get away with it, in nations that don't have billions in outside money and donations being spent in a perpetual election cycle, so, if someone is looking at it from a non-USA perspective, "your results may vary."
add a comment |
up vote
8
down vote
up vote
8
down vote
There are a few reasons why.
The first would be that a hypothetical question usually deals with just that, an imaginary situation. Where real life deals with nuance, complexities and multi-variate factors, a hypothetical question is usually unrealistically black and white. Answering a question about something that would not happen, at least in the way it is framed, tells us nothing, so the politician risks having an unrealistic scenario define him or her in a way that they would probably deem to be unfair.
Usually, when a situation like that is posed, it's regarding a contested subject. While someone may agree with a politician 80% of the time, and the 20% of the time are on issues that happen infrequently or don't really impact their lives, the airwaves are filled with ads around election time hammering opponents on single, absurd issues on trivial matters that are blown up to be huge moral shortcomings, according to the ads. For the most part, still, when dealing with an uninformed electorate (in the USA, at least), the average voter is either too dim or too lazy to see the crass manipulation that goes into attack ads. That's why attack ads work. For anything that can be used to attack a politician, they are going to avoid going on the record in speech or action, until they absolutely have to, in order to deal with actual votes or legislation or to react to issues of the day. They certainly aren't going to paint a bulls-eye on themselves for a situation that is made up, if they can help it.
Finally, the politicians have little control over the situation when someone else makes up a scenario and sets the parameters for what they consider to be a response. US politicians, aware of how much 30 second ads define them, either by themselves or opposition, are PR-managed to the point of being automatons. They repeat the same meaningless slogans and catch-phrases that tested well in focus groups, and that matches with the slick advertising campaigns, their own and via "dark money" groups that they are illegally coordinating with. To respond to something outside their scripted narrative is to cede control in a way that could hurt their message.
None of this speaks well to the current state of US election campaigns. That's because it it is a cesspool, with expected results. I'm not sure how much these factors are true and how much politicians avoid saying anything, and get away with it, in nations that don't have billions in outside money and donations being spent in a perpetual election cycle, so, if someone is looking at it from a non-USA perspective, "your results may vary."
There are a few reasons why.
The first would be that a hypothetical question usually deals with just that, an imaginary situation. Where real life deals with nuance, complexities and multi-variate factors, a hypothetical question is usually unrealistically black and white. Answering a question about something that would not happen, at least in the way it is framed, tells us nothing, so the politician risks having an unrealistic scenario define him or her in a way that they would probably deem to be unfair.
Usually, when a situation like that is posed, it's regarding a contested subject. While someone may agree with a politician 80% of the time, and the 20% of the time are on issues that happen infrequently or don't really impact their lives, the airwaves are filled with ads around election time hammering opponents on single, absurd issues on trivial matters that are blown up to be huge moral shortcomings, according to the ads. For the most part, still, when dealing with an uninformed electorate (in the USA, at least), the average voter is either too dim or too lazy to see the crass manipulation that goes into attack ads. That's why attack ads work. For anything that can be used to attack a politician, they are going to avoid going on the record in speech or action, until they absolutely have to, in order to deal with actual votes or legislation or to react to issues of the day. They certainly aren't going to paint a bulls-eye on themselves for a situation that is made up, if they can help it.
Finally, the politicians have little control over the situation when someone else makes up a scenario and sets the parameters for what they consider to be a response. US politicians, aware of how much 30 second ads define them, either by themselves or opposition, are PR-managed to the point of being automatons. They repeat the same meaningless slogans and catch-phrases that tested well in focus groups, and that matches with the slick advertising campaigns, their own and via "dark money" groups that they are illegally coordinating with. To respond to something outside their scripted narrative is to cede control in a way that could hurt their message.
None of this speaks well to the current state of US election campaigns. That's because it it is a cesspool, with expected results. I'm not sure how much these factors are true and how much politicians avoid saying anything, and get away with it, in nations that don't have billions in outside money and donations being spent in a perpetual election cycle, so, if someone is looking at it from a non-USA perspective, "your results may vary."
answered Nov 19 at 17:50
PoloHoleSet
11k12652
11k12652
add a comment |
add a comment |
up vote
5
down vote
Because what you think you might do in a hypothetical situation may turn out to be quite different to what you would actually do if that hypothetical situation were to come to pass.
Hence most politicians refuse to be answer when asked such questions, for fear that, if the hypothetical situation does one day occur, what they do may contradict what they said they would do - leading to accusations of hypocrisy, etc.
But you can always blame the situation has changed.
– user1589188
Nov 22 at 8:47
"what they do may contradict what they said they would do" - welcome to the world of campaign promises
– Hagen von Eitzen
2 days ago
add a comment |
up vote
5
down vote
Because what you think you might do in a hypothetical situation may turn out to be quite different to what you would actually do if that hypothetical situation were to come to pass.
Hence most politicians refuse to be answer when asked such questions, for fear that, if the hypothetical situation does one day occur, what they do may contradict what they said they would do - leading to accusations of hypocrisy, etc.
But you can always blame the situation has changed.
– user1589188
Nov 22 at 8:47
"what they do may contradict what they said they would do" - welcome to the world of campaign promises
– Hagen von Eitzen
2 days ago
add a comment |
up vote
5
down vote
up vote
5
down vote
Because what you think you might do in a hypothetical situation may turn out to be quite different to what you would actually do if that hypothetical situation were to come to pass.
Hence most politicians refuse to be answer when asked such questions, for fear that, if the hypothetical situation does one day occur, what they do may contradict what they said they would do - leading to accusations of hypocrisy, etc.
Because what you think you might do in a hypothetical situation may turn out to be quite different to what you would actually do if that hypothetical situation were to come to pass.
Hence most politicians refuse to be answer when asked such questions, for fear that, if the hypothetical situation does one day occur, what they do may contradict what they said they would do - leading to accusations of hypocrisy, etc.
answered Nov 19 at 16:05
Steve Melnikoff
3,29711330
3,29711330
But you can always blame the situation has changed.
– user1589188
Nov 22 at 8:47
"what they do may contradict what they said they would do" - welcome to the world of campaign promises
– Hagen von Eitzen
2 days ago
add a comment |
But you can always blame the situation has changed.
– user1589188
Nov 22 at 8:47
"what they do may contradict what they said they would do" - welcome to the world of campaign promises
– Hagen von Eitzen
2 days ago
But you can always blame the situation has changed.
– user1589188
Nov 22 at 8:47
But you can always blame the situation has changed.
– user1589188
Nov 22 at 8:47
"what they do may contradict what they said they would do" - welcome to the world of campaign promises
– Hagen von Eitzen
2 days ago
"what they do may contradict what they said they would do" - welcome to the world of campaign promises
– Hagen von Eitzen
2 days ago
add a comment |
up vote
3
down vote
A lot of good answers, I just want to highlight one point.
Fundamentally a politician will want to come out of an interview giving the impression of being open and transparent, but without actually saying much.
While this is a bit pessimistic, when you look at how the opposition and the media acts, you want to give yourself the smallest possible surface area to attack as possible.
If you are a politician, and you are able to dodge a question with grace, it is advisable to do so.
For some reason, we generally consider it acceptable to avoid questions involving hypotheticals, so it's easy enough to smile and dismiss a question by saying "I don't want to get into hypotheticals".
New contributor
add a comment |
up vote
3
down vote
A lot of good answers, I just want to highlight one point.
Fundamentally a politician will want to come out of an interview giving the impression of being open and transparent, but without actually saying much.
While this is a bit pessimistic, when you look at how the opposition and the media acts, you want to give yourself the smallest possible surface area to attack as possible.
If you are a politician, and you are able to dodge a question with grace, it is advisable to do so.
For some reason, we generally consider it acceptable to avoid questions involving hypotheticals, so it's easy enough to smile and dismiss a question by saying "I don't want to get into hypotheticals".
New contributor
add a comment |
up vote
3
down vote
up vote
3
down vote
A lot of good answers, I just want to highlight one point.
Fundamentally a politician will want to come out of an interview giving the impression of being open and transparent, but without actually saying much.
While this is a bit pessimistic, when you look at how the opposition and the media acts, you want to give yourself the smallest possible surface area to attack as possible.
If you are a politician, and you are able to dodge a question with grace, it is advisable to do so.
For some reason, we generally consider it acceptable to avoid questions involving hypotheticals, so it's easy enough to smile and dismiss a question by saying "I don't want to get into hypotheticals".
New contributor
A lot of good answers, I just want to highlight one point.
Fundamentally a politician will want to come out of an interview giving the impression of being open and transparent, but without actually saying much.
While this is a bit pessimistic, when you look at how the opposition and the media acts, you want to give yourself the smallest possible surface area to attack as possible.
If you are a politician, and you are able to dodge a question with grace, it is advisable to do so.
For some reason, we generally consider it acceptable to avoid questions involving hypotheticals, so it's easy enough to smile and dismiss a question by saying "I don't want to get into hypotheticals".
New contributor
New contributor
answered Nov 21 at 0:04
Gregroy Currie
1312
1312
New contributor
New contributor
add a comment |
add a comment |
up vote
2
down vote
Other answers have done a good job of explaining the practical reasons politicians don't like to answer hypothetical questions. They didn't address, however, the supposed rationale for not answering hypothetical questions. Obviously, a politician must have some cover for not answering hypothetical questions and there must be a reason they feel comfortable not answering hypothetical questions and wouldn't ever say, "I don't answer hard questions."
The supposed logic is two-fold:
Hypothetical questions are typically under-specified which makes them impossible to answer. For example, "What would you do if a nuclear bomb detonated in the United States?". The problem with this question is we have to imagine a lot of details before we can answer it. Under current circumstances or in general? Do we know who detonated it? Do we know who built it? How large a bomb? And so on. Real questions have all their parameters filled in by the real world, hypothetical questions don't.
Hypothetical questions require us to imagine lots of other counterfactuals and many of those are hard. For example, "If the South had won the Civil War, would the United States exist today?". This requires us imagining so much to get from the end of the Civil War to today that requires essentially just guesses.
Of course, many hypothetical questions are precisely the sort politicians must answer. For example, if you advocate passing a particular change to the law, you must be able to answer questions like, "If we make that change to the law, what about X?". This is precisely what must be defended to defend a change in the law. So often it's just a nice sounding excuse.
I actually like your attempt more, although I do not quite agree. Politicians can dodge any questions, may just be like some others said they simply don't want to answer. The real issue here is why do the public usually let them walk away when they claim the question is hypothetical? Could it be the public all accept the rationales you listed above? But then if that is the case, that applies to all of us not just politicians and whoever asks hypothetical questions should be called an idiot immediately.
– user1589188
Nov 22 at 9:10
1
@user1589188 In many fields, that pretty much is the norm (outright rejecting hypothetical questions for any purpose other than silliness). Try asking hypothetical questions in the field of history or engineering, for example. (By which I mean hypothetical questions where the reasoning above applies, such as the examples I gave.)
– David Schwartz
Nov 22 at 19:01
add a comment |
up vote
2
down vote
Other answers have done a good job of explaining the practical reasons politicians don't like to answer hypothetical questions. They didn't address, however, the supposed rationale for not answering hypothetical questions. Obviously, a politician must have some cover for not answering hypothetical questions and there must be a reason they feel comfortable not answering hypothetical questions and wouldn't ever say, "I don't answer hard questions."
The supposed logic is two-fold:
Hypothetical questions are typically under-specified which makes them impossible to answer. For example, "What would you do if a nuclear bomb detonated in the United States?". The problem with this question is we have to imagine a lot of details before we can answer it. Under current circumstances or in general? Do we know who detonated it? Do we know who built it? How large a bomb? And so on. Real questions have all their parameters filled in by the real world, hypothetical questions don't.
Hypothetical questions require us to imagine lots of other counterfactuals and many of those are hard. For example, "If the South had won the Civil War, would the United States exist today?". This requires us imagining so much to get from the end of the Civil War to today that requires essentially just guesses.
Of course, many hypothetical questions are precisely the sort politicians must answer. For example, if you advocate passing a particular change to the law, you must be able to answer questions like, "If we make that change to the law, what about X?". This is precisely what must be defended to defend a change in the law. So often it's just a nice sounding excuse.
I actually like your attempt more, although I do not quite agree. Politicians can dodge any questions, may just be like some others said they simply don't want to answer. The real issue here is why do the public usually let them walk away when they claim the question is hypothetical? Could it be the public all accept the rationales you listed above? But then if that is the case, that applies to all of us not just politicians and whoever asks hypothetical questions should be called an idiot immediately.
– user1589188
Nov 22 at 9:10
1
@user1589188 In many fields, that pretty much is the norm (outright rejecting hypothetical questions for any purpose other than silliness). Try asking hypothetical questions in the field of history or engineering, for example. (By which I mean hypothetical questions where the reasoning above applies, such as the examples I gave.)
– David Schwartz
Nov 22 at 19:01
add a comment |
up vote
2
down vote
up vote
2
down vote
Other answers have done a good job of explaining the practical reasons politicians don't like to answer hypothetical questions. They didn't address, however, the supposed rationale for not answering hypothetical questions. Obviously, a politician must have some cover for not answering hypothetical questions and there must be a reason they feel comfortable not answering hypothetical questions and wouldn't ever say, "I don't answer hard questions."
The supposed logic is two-fold:
Hypothetical questions are typically under-specified which makes them impossible to answer. For example, "What would you do if a nuclear bomb detonated in the United States?". The problem with this question is we have to imagine a lot of details before we can answer it. Under current circumstances or in general? Do we know who detonated it? Do we know who built it? How large a bomb? And so on. Real questions have all their parameters filled in by the real world, hypothetical questions don't.
Hypothetical questions require us to imagine lots of other counterfactuals and many of those are hard. For example, "If the South had won the Civil War, would the United States exist today?". This requires us imagining so much to get from the end of the Civil War to today that requires essentially just guesses.
Of course, many hypothetical questions are precisely the sort politicians must answer. For example, if you advocate passing a particular change to the law, you must be able to answer questions like, "If we make that change to the law, what about X?". This is precisely what must be defended to defend a change in the law. So often it's just a nice sounding excuse.
Other answers have done a good job of explaining the practical reasons politicians don't like to answer hypothetical questions. They didn't address, however, the supposed rationale for not answering hypothetical questions. Obviously, a politician must have some cover for not answering hypothetical questions and there must be a reason they feel comfortable not answering hypothetical questions and wouldn't ever say, "I don't answer hard questions."
The supposed logic is two-fold:
Hypothetical questions are typically under-specified which makes them impossible to answer. For example, "What would you do if a nuclear bomb detonated in the United States?". The problem with this question is we have to imagine a lot of details before we can answer it. Under current circumstances or in general? Do we know who detonated it? Do we know who built it? How large a bomb? And so on. Real questions have all their parameters filled in by the real world, hypothetical questions don't.
Hypothetical questions require us to imagine lots of other counterfactuals and many of those are hard. For example, "If the South had won the Civil War, would the United States exist today?". This requires us imagining so much to get from the end of the Civil War to today that requires essentially just guesses.
Of course, many hypothetical questions are precisely the sort politicians must answer. For example, if you advocate passing a particular change to the law, you must be able to answer questions like, "If we make that change to the law, what about X?". This is precisely what must be defended to defend a change in the law. So often it's just a nice sounding excuse.
answered Nov 21 at 23:20
David Schwartz
1,495312
1,495312
I actually like your attempt more, although I do not quite agree. Politicians can dodge any questions, may just be like some others said they simply don't want to answer. The real issue here is why do the public usually let them walk away when they claim the question is hypothetical? Could it be the public all accept the rationales you listed above? But then if that is the case, that applies to all of us not just politicians and whoever asks hypothetical questions should be called an idiot immediately.
– user1589188
Nov 22 at 9:10
1
@user1589188 In many fields, that pretty much is the norm (outright rejecting hypothetical questions for any purpose other than silliness). Try asking hypothetical questions in the field of history or engineering, for example. (By which I mean hypothetical questions where the reasoning above applies, such as the examples I gave.)
– David Schwartz
Nov 22 at 19:01
add a comment |
I actually like your attempt more, although I do not quite agree. Politicians can dodge any questions, may just be like some others said they simply don't want to answer. The real issue here is why do the public usually let them walk away when they claim the question is hypothetical? Could it be the public all accept the rationales you listed above? But then if that is the case, that applies to all of us not just politicians and whoever asks hypothetical questions should be called an idiot immediately.
– user1589188
Nov 22 at 9:10
1
@user1589188 In many fields, that pretty much is the norm (outright rejecting hypothetical questions for any purpose other than silliness). Try asking hypothetical questions in the field of history or engineering, for example. (By which I mean hypothetical questions where the reasoning above applies, such as the examples I gave.)
– David Schwartz
Nov 22 at 19:01
I actually like your attempt more, although I do not quite agree. Politicians can dodge any questions, may just be like some others said they simply don't want to answer. The real issue here is why do the public usually let them walk away when they claim the question is hypothetical? Could it be the public all accept the rationales you listed above? But then if that is the case, that applies to all of us not just politicians and whoever asks hypothetical questions should be called an idiot immediately.
– user1589188
Nov 22 at 9:10
I actually like your attempt more, although I do not quite agree. Politicians can dodge any questions, may just be like some others said they simply don't want to answer. The real issue here is why do the public usually let them walk away when they claim the question is hypothetical? Could it be the public all accept the rationales you listed above? But then if that is the case, that applies to all of us not just politicians and whoever asks hypothetical questions should be called an idiot immediately.
– user1589188
Nov 22 at 9:10
1
1
@user1589188 In many fields, that pretty much is the norm (outright rejecting hypothetical questions for any purpose other than silliness). Try asking hypothetical questions in the field of history or engineering, for example. (By which I mean hypothetical questions where the reasoning above applies, such as the examples I gave.)
– David Schwartz
Nov 22 at 19:01
@user1589188 In many fields, that pretty much is the norm (outright rejecting hypothetical questions for any purpose other than silliness). Try asking hypothetical questions in the field of history or engineering, for example. (By which I mean hypothetical questions where the reasoning above applies, such as the examples I gave.)
– David Schwartz
Nov 22 at 19:01
add a comment |
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TL;DR: Sometimes there are known plans to hypothetical situations (such as zombies appears in the US). But the less likely a hypothetical situation is, the more ridiculous a complete plan would seem, and the more simplified a general answer would be because of lack of resources going into it. Simplified answers are technically wrong in a lot of edge cases. Someone may get a quite different solution if they had a few people working on it for a few days.
Suppose A and B are two nuclear capable countries. Someone asked politician X in country A: "What do we do if country B nuked us?" And the answer was "to nuke them back".
One day, politician Y in country B publicly said that they should nuke country A. Some people relies: "Oh you are crazy!" "Please don't, or politician X will nuke us, and we all die." Some people tweets to politician X: "politician Y is going to nuke your country, what do you do now?"
If the answer is to ignore them, "oh, you dishonest man." If the answer is to nuke them back, "oh, you are crazy too", because politician Y is just a random nobody who isn't supposed to win the election or get any government positions. But politician X, who was much better than Y, now has the troubles to deal with all the following questions about when to use the nuclear weapons, in what exact conditions, and to whom, how many, etc.
Actually, if country B nuking country A is a very likely event, there would be a whole department in country A to watch what country B is doing, how to answer the attack, and how to minimize the damage and clean up everything afterward. The right answer of politician X might be: "Please ask department D, they have a whole set of too-complicated-to-explain plans." Because this is not likely, the answer simplifies to MAD in everyone's common sense, and the peaceful politician X was just repeating the common sense. But it is simplified. It has to be wrong or inexact in some specifically engineered scenario. Now politician X has to bear the responsibility of the whole department, which may not be even considered useful in the first place. This should be too much for a single person. Even if he can get a complete plan, "why do you explain MAD in that complicated way, and has the army and related parties agreed to everything?"
In the best case, his political opponents may find a rare scenario and question him more, distracting him from more useful works. In the worst case, someone provokes a third country unknowingly going into a rare scenario. But if he didn't answer, the uncertainty may have already deterred country B from nuking country A.
Some more practical hypothetical questions might be like:
- What happens if Z betrays you? Do you watch over him everyday, taking a lot of resources, or can I persuade Z to betray you because from your answer we know there isn't that much of security measures?
- What to do if some projects costed lives even if you had every thinkable safety measures? Do you just pay them a lot of money, say sorry, try to make it not happen again, and get away from it and move on?
Dealing with a hypothetical question could be very costly. It was rumored that Mao has encouraged birth because he was afraid of nuclear attacks, ending up with a lot of people and the one-child policy.
New contributor
What does MAD mean?
– Wildcard
Nov 21 at 21:52
Mutuall Assured Destruction
– David Schwartz
Nov 21 at 23:15
add a comment |
up vote
1
down vote
TL;DR: Sometimes there are known plans to hypothetical situations (such as zombies appears in the US). But the less likely a hypothetical situation is, the more ridiculous a complete plan would seem, and the more simplified a general answer would be because of lack of resources going into it. Simplified answers are technically wrong in a lot of edge cases. Someone may get a quite different solution if they had a few people working on it for a few days.
Suppose A and B are two nuclear capable countries. Someone asked politician X in country A: "What do we do if country B nuked us?" And the answer was "to nuke them back".
One day, politician Y in country B publicly said that they should nuke country A. Some people relies: "Oh you are crazy!" "Please don't, or politician X will nuke us, and we all die." Some people tweets to politician X: "politician Y is going to nuke your country, what do you do now?"
If the answer is to ignore them, "oh, you dishonest man." If the answer is to nuke them back, "oh, you are crazy too", because politician Y is just a random nobody who isn't supposed to win the election or get any government positions. But politician X, who was much better than Y, now has the troubles to deal with all the following questions about when to use the nuclear weapons, in what exact conditions, and to whom, how many, etc.
Actually, if country B nuking country A is a very likely event, there would be a whole department in country A to watch what country B is doing, how to answer the attack, and how to minimize the damage and clean up everything afterward. The right answer of politician X might be: "Please ask department D, they have a whole set of too-complicated-to-explain plans." Because this is not likely, the answer simplifies to MAD in everyone's common sense, and the peaceful politician X was just repeating the common sense. But it is simplified. It has to be wrong or inexact in some specifically engineered scenario. Now politician X has to bear the responsibility of the whole department, which may not be even considered useful in the first place. This should be too much for a single person. Even if he can get a complete plan, "why do you explain MAD in that complicated way, and has the army and related parties agreed to everything?"
In the best case, his political opponents may find a rare scenario and question him more, distracting him from more useful works. In the worst case, someone provokes a third country unknowingly going into a rare scenario. But if he didn't answer, the uncertainty may have already deterred country B from nuking country A.
Some more practical hypothetical questions might be like:
- What happens if Z betrays you? Do you watch over him everyday, taking a lot of resources, or can I persuade Z to betray you because from your answer we know there isn't that much of security measures?
- What to do if some projects costed lives even if you had every thinkable safety measures? Do you just pay them a lot of money, say sorry, try to make it not happen again, and get away from it and move on?
Dealing with a hypothetical question could be very costly. It was rumored that Mao has encouraged birth because he was afraid of nuclear attacks, ending up with a lot of people and the one-child policy.
New contributor
What does MAD mean?
– Wildcard
Nov 21 at 21:52
Mutuall Assured Destruction
– David Schwartz
Nov 21 at 23:15
add a comment |
up vote
1
down vote
up vote
1
down vote
TL;DR: Sometimes there are known plans to hypothetical situations (such as zombies appears in the US). But the less likely a hypothetical situation is, the more ridiculous a complete plan would seem, and the more simplified a general answer would be because of lack of resources going into it. Simplified answers are technically wrong in a lot of edge cases. Someone may get a quite different solution if they had a few people working on it for a few days.
Suppose A and B are two nuclear capable countries. Someone asked politician X in country A: "What do we do if country B nuked us?" And the answer was "to nuke them back".
One day, politician Y in country B publicly said that they should nuke country A. Some people relies: "Oh you are crazy!" "Please don't, or politician X will nuke us, and we all die." Some people tweets to politician X: "politician Y is going to nuke your country, what do you do now?"
If the answer is to ignore them, "oh, you dishonest man." If the answer is to nuke them back, "oh, you are crazy too", because politician Y is just a random nobody who isn't supposed to win the election or get any government positions. But politician X, who was much better than Y, now has the troubles to deal with all the following questions about when to use the nuclear weapons, in what exact conditions, and to whom, how many, etc.
Actually, if country B nuking country A is a very likely event, there would be a whole department in country A to watch what country B is doing, how to answer the attack, and how to minimize the damage and clean up everything afterward. The right answer of politician X might be: "Please ask department D, they have a whole set of too-complicated-to-explain plans." Because this is not likely, the answer simplifies to MAD in everyone's common sense, and the peaceful politician X was just repeating the common sense. But it is simplified. It has to be wrong or inexact in some specifically engineered scenario. Now politician X has to bear the responsibility of the whole department, which may not be even considered useful in the first place. This should be too much for a single person. Even if he can get a complete plan, "why do you explain MAD in that complicated way, and has the army and related parties agreed to everything?"
In the best case, his political opponents may find a rare scenario and question him more, distracting him from more useful works. In the worst case, someone provokes a third country unknowingly going into a rare scenario. But if he didn't answer, the uncertainty may have already deterred country B from nuking country A.
Some more practical hypothetical questions might be like:
- What happens if Z betrays you? Do you watch over him everyday, taking a lot of resources, or can I persuade Z to betray you because from your answer we know there isn't that much of security measures?
- What to do if some projects costed lives even if you had every thinkable safety measures? Do you just pay them a lot of money, say sorry, try to make it not happen again, and get away from it and move on?
Dealing with a hypothetical question could be very costly. It was rumored that Mao has encouraged birth because he was afraid of nuclear attacks, ending up with a lot of people and the one-child policy.
New contributor
TL;DR: Sometimes there are known plans to hypothetical situations (such as zombies appears in the US). But the less likely a hypothetical situation is, the more ridiculous a complete plan would seem, and the more simplified a general answer would be because of lack of resources going into it. Simplified answers are technically wrong in a lot of edge cases. Someone may get a quite different solution if they had a few people working on it for a few days.
Suppose A and B are two nuclear capable countries. Someone asked politician X in country A: "What do we do if country B nuked us?" And the answer was "to nuke them back".
One day, politician Y in country B publicly said that they should nuke country A. Some people relies: "Oh you are crazy!" "Please don't, or politician X will nuke us, and we all die." Some people tweets to politician X: "politician Y is going to nuke your country, what do you do now?"
If the answer is to ignore them, "oh, you dishonest man." If the answer is to nuke them back, "oh, you are crazy too", because politician Y is just a random nobody who isn't supposed to win the election or get any government positions. But politician X, who was much better than Y, now has the troubles to deal with all the following questions about when to use the nuclear weapons, in what exact conditions, and to whom, how many, etc.
Actually, if country B nuking country A is a very likely event, there would be a whole department in country A to watch what country B is doing, how to answer the attack, and how to minimize the damage and clean up everything afterward. The right answer of politician X might be: "Please ask department D, they have a whole set of too-complicated-to-explain plans." Because this is not likely, the answer simplifies to MAD in everyone's common sense, and the peaceful politician X was just repeating the common sense. But it is simplified. It has to be wrong or inexact in some specifically engineered scenario. Now politician X has to bear the responsibility of the whole department, which may not be even considered useful in the first place. This should be too much for a single person. Even if he can get a complete plan, "why do you explain MAD in that complicated way, and has the army and related parties agreed to everything?"
In the best case, his political opponents may find a rare scenario and question him more, distracting him from more useful works. In the worst case, someone provokes a third country unknowingly going into a rare scenario. But if he didn't answer, the uncertainty may have already deterred country B from nuking country A.
Some more practical hypothetical questions might be like:
- What happens if Z betrays you? Do you watch over him everyday, taking a lot of resources, or can I persuade Z to betray you because from your answer we know there isn't that much of security measures?
- What to do if some projects costed lives even if you had every thinkable safety measures? Do you just pay them a lot of money, say sorry, try to make it not happen again, and get away from it and move on?
Dealing with a hypothetical question could be very costly. It was rumored that Mao has encouraged birth because he was afraid of nuclear attacks, ending up with a lot of people and the one-child policy.
New contributor
New contributor
answered Nov 21 at 12:09
user23013
1113
1113
New contributor
New contributor
What does MAD mean?
– Wildcard
Nov 21 at 21:52
Mutuall Assured Destruction
– David Schwartz
Nov 21 at 23:15
add a comment |
What does MAD mean?
– Wildcard
Nov 21 at 21:52
Mutuall Assured Destruction
– David Schwartz
Nov 21 at 23:15
What does MAD mean?
– Wildcard
Nov 21 at 21:52
What does MAD mean?
– Wildcard
Nov 21 at 21:52
Mutuall Assured Destruction
– David Schwartz
Nov 21 at 23:15
Mutuall Assured Destruction
– David Schwartz
Nov 21 at 23:15
add a comment |
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34
Perhaps they simply don’t want to answer the question, whether it is possible or not.
– chirlu
Nov 19 at 14:00
6
I think this was a good question with a bad title, so I've edited the title.
– Paul Johnson
Nov 19 at 16:54
1
I fail to understand how is this not related to politics. Also, the question gathered a couple of good answers proving that it is answerable.
– Alexei
Nov 20 at 5:59
55
They don't answer concrete questions either.
– Russell Borogove
Nov 20 at 21:49
15
If you were a politician, would you answer hypothetical questions? ;-)
– Mawg
Nov 21 at 12:52