• PL Olcott
    626
    This is an epistemological perspective of the math and computer
    science concept of undecidability. The intention here is to show
    that there is such a thing as an incorrect question.

    An incorrect question is defined as a question that lacks a correct
    answer because there is something wrong with the question.


    This simplest example of an incorrect question that I created back in 2004 is:
    What time is it (yes or no)?

    It is clear that the above question has no correct answer because the
    required solution set of {yes, no} has no hours and minutes.

    I came up with The logical law of polar questions in 2015
    When posed to a man whom has never been married, the question:
    Have you stopped beating your wife?
    Is an incorrect polar question because neither yes nor no is a correct answer.
    Technically the question includes a false presupposition.

    A PhD computer science professor came up with this incorrect question in 2017:
    Can Carol correctly answer “no” to this [yes/no] question?

    The whole point here is the question:
    Does this notion of incorrect question make sense?


  • bert1
    2k
    Not really to me, no. Questions can contain false hidden assumptions, be leading, be rhetorical, be impossible to answer coherently etc. But only answers can be incorrect. Questions are not claims about anything.
  • PL Olcott
    626
    Not really to me, no. Questions can contain false hidden assumptions, be leading, be rhetorical, be impossible to answer coherently etc. But only answers can be incorrect. Questions are not claims about anything.bert1

    One of the people doing primary research into the mathematical formalization
    of natural language called Montague Grammar proposed that questions are
    statements with a piece missing.

    The above incorrect question can be translated into its equivalent statement
    The current time is "no". This statement is the same kind of nonsense as
    this very famous statement.

    Colorless green ideas sleep furiously
    was composed by Noam Chomsky in his 1957 book Syntactic Structures as
    an example of a sentence that is grammatically well-formed, but semantically
    nonsensical.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorless_green_ideas_sleep_furiously
  • Rocco RosanoAccepted Answer
    52
    RE: Does the idea of incorrect questions make sense?
    ※→ et al,

    Does this notion of incorrect question make sense?
    (RESPONSE)

    • Yes, it is is possible to have an incorrect question.
      For instance: Any question that is ambiguous. What is the best best color for man?
    • Any question in which the object is beyond description is incorrect.
      For instance: Who is the Supreme Being? What is the First Cause?
    • Any scientific question that is untestable.
      For instance: Where is the center of the universe?

    etc,
    1689667735356-png.805608
    Most Respectfully,
    R
  • PL Olcott
    626
    ↪PL Olcott Does this notion of incorrect question make sense?
    (RESPONSE)

    Yes, it is is possible to have an incorrect question.
    Rocco Rosano
    I accepted your answer. You cited many more good examples.

    An incorrect question is defined as a question that lacks a correct
    answer because there is something wrong with the question.
    PL Olcott
  • LuckyR
    496

    Uummm... I see a greater problem with the artificial constraint of the set of possible answers than I do with the questions, per sè.
  • wonderer1
    2.2k
    Any question in which the object is beyond description is incorrect.Rocco Rosano

    Is it incorrect to ask what the value of π is?
  • PL Olcott
    626
    ↪PL Olcott
    Uummm... I see a greater problem with the artificial constraint of the set of possible answers than I do with the questions, per sè.
    LuckyR

    Every yes/no question only has {yes, no} as a correct answer.

    Every yes/no defined such that no {yes, no} answer exists is
    probably an incorrect yes/no question.

    yes/no questions defined to contradict both yes/no answers
    are incorrect questions.
  • PL Olcott
    626
    Is it incorrect to ask what the value of π is?wonderer1

    No, one merely provides the algorithm for obtaining this value.
  • flannel jesus
    1.8k
    Colorless green ideas sleep furiously
    was composed by Noam Chomsky in his 1957 book Syntactic Structures as
    an example of a sentence that is grammatically well-formed, but semantically
    nonsensical.
    PL Olcott

    It would have a bit more bite to it if he replaced "colourless ideas" with an actual colourless idea.

    Green angles sleep furiously
  • Rocco Rosano
    52
    RE: Does the idea of incorrect questions make sense?
    ※→ et al,

    No... It can be answered as a ratio.

    Is it incorrect to ask what the value of π is?

    (COMMENT)

    This is a question related to the cousin • "infinity." ( )

    No mathematics is perfect. Mathematics is NOT related to truth or some other reality. PI ( π ) is a ratio [(22:7 or 22/7) or (a geometric ratio of the circumference to the diameter)]. There is no exact equivalent in the decimal form (base 10). A calculator gives you an answer in terms of a never ending line of successive approximations until it exhausts its memory.

    f5c4adc667e687e332a498508b01cda56fbfc208

    There are entire books written on the subject of "infinity." I tried to understand the Bertrand Russel's (1872-1970) writings (text) when I was studying "idealism." To be honest, I reached my "limit" before I reached the end of the text. (Pun Intended)

    1689667735356-png.805608
    Most Respectfully,
    R
  • PL Olcott
    626
    It would have a bit more bite to it if he replaced "colourless ideas" with an actual colourless idea.flannel jesus

    His point was that a thing requiring mutually exclusive properties cannot exist.
    Do colorless green ideas sleep furiously? No they do not.
  • PL Olcott
    626
    RE: Does the idea of incorrect questions make sense?
    ※→ et al,

    No... It can be answered as a ratio.
    Rocco Rosano

    So the question: What time is it (yes or no)? can be answered with a ratio?
  • Count Timothy von Icarus
    2.8k
    It seems to me like you can definitely ask bad questions. This gets at problems in the sciences re paradigms and theory ladeness.

    Your questions about phenomena are informed by your theories. You examine your data, empirical findings, in light of the existing paradigm.
  • PL Olcott
    626
    It seems to me like you can definitely ask bad questions.Count Timothy von Icarus

    The term {bad} has too much subjective leeway of interpretation compared {incorrect} that hss no subjective leeway.

    An incorrect question is defined as a question that lacks a correct
    answer because there is something wrong with the question.
    PL Olcott

    "something wrong" also seems a little imprecise.
    A self-contradictory question is a specific kind of {something wrong} here is an example of that:

    Can Carol correctly answer “no” to this [yes/no] question?PL Olcott

    What time is it (yes or no)?PL Olcott

    Is an example of a type mismatch error.
  • Count Timothy von Icarus
    2.8k

    Science necessarily entails elements of subjectivity. After all, it's about what we (subjects) think is going on in the world.

    Correct/incorrect itself also seems to presuppose some sort of purpose. What is correct/incorrect "of itself?"

    To be sure, you have examples of questions that cannot be answered due to problems of self-reference, but that seems like a subset of bad questions. Same with the examples of "begging the question." It seems to me that questions are bad or incorrect as regards the purposes for asking them.
  • PL Olcott
    626
    ↪PL Olcott
    Science necessarily entails elements of subjectivity. After all, it's about what we (subjects) think is going on in the world.
    Count Timothy von Icarus

    I brought these same ideas up in the logic forum and they stopped getting any replies.

    I am referring to the subset of expressions of language that either have no subjectivity
    or whatever subjectivity they have is not relevant to the objective determination of correct
    versus incorrect.
  • Rocco Rosano
    52
    RE: Does the idea of incorrect questions make sense?
    ※→ et al,

    Time is not a ratio (per sa). When you say time, you have to think in terms of space-time. The two are inseparable.

    There is nothing wrong with the question concept. However it can be criticized as a fallacy known as a "False Dilemma." Then again, my answer might be considered hasty.

    My thumbnail answer is probably somewhat difficult to understand.
    SHORT ANSWER: YES (Qualified)

    What time is it (yes or no)? can be answered with a ratio?

    Time is actually a dimensional coordinate in a space where the 3-dimentional coordinate "x" axis = 0, "y" axis = 0 "z" axis = 0 (a coordinate) shifts in location. Time is on a continuum in which frequency is a difference in location as observed by an outside observer. Time is measured as the inverse of frequency. This is to say that the ˙∆t between the one location (x,y,z) and the velocity (v) to the next location (x' , y' , z').

    1/freq = time. and. 1/time = freq

    This is done all the because nothing is motionless. When you say three o'clock, you are talking about a single coordinate in the past. If you say one Megahertz (1.0E-6 Seconds), you are talking about traveling in time at this moment.

    (Note: Even at the speed of light (c), no outside observer is stationary, The outside observer is always looking into the past, but the frequency shifts due to the doppler effect.)

    1689667735356-png.805608
    Most Respectfully,
    R
  • PL Olcott
    626
    There is nothing wrong with the question concept. However it can be criticized as a fallacy known as a "False Dilemma." Then again, my answer might be considered hasty.Rocco Rosano

    When an incorrect question is defined as any question lacking a correct answer
    because there is something wrong with the question, the the question

    What time is it (yes or no)?
    cannot be answered because of the type mismatch error.

    Colorless green ideas sleep furiously
    is a statement that is nonsense because of type mismatch errors.
  • LuckyR
    496

    Though one can argue there's no such thing as an inherently "yes/no" question, just askers not interested in the whole truth, instead seeking to artificially constrain answerers with arbitrary "rules" predefining "acceptable" answers.
  • PL Olcott
    626
    Though one can argue there's no such thing as an inherently "yes/no" question,LuckyR

    https://teflpedia.com/Polar_question
    If you are in a courtroom and asked a yes/no question and fail to answer
    with a yes/no answer you could be cited for contempt of court and sent to jail.
  • LuckyR
    496

    Exactly my point. Lawyers are almost universally understood to be a prime example of someone uninterested in the truth, and instead seek to manipulate others to give answers that serve the lawyer's best interest.
  • PL Olcott
    626
    ↪PL Olcott
    Exactly my point. Lawyers are almost universally understood to be a prime example of someone uninterested in the truth, and instead seek to manipulate others to give answers that serve the lawyer's best interest.
    LuckyR

    In the court of law dishonest dodges and deceit land you in jail.
    Judge to Bill: Did you murder Mary or not?
    Bill: What even does the word "murder" mean?
    Bill: Many people are said to "murder" the English language.
    Judge: Answer the question or be charged with contempt of court.
  • LuckyR
    496

    Nah, much more likely to be:

    L. Did you strike my client with your fist? Yes or no.
    D. Well, he came at me with a tire iron...
    L. I asked you YES or NO did you strike my client with your fist?
    J. Please answer yes or no.
  • PL Olcott
    626
    Nah, much more likely to be:

    L. Did you strike my client with your fist? Yes or no.
    D. Well, he came at me with a tire iron...
    L. I asked you YES or NO did you strike my client with your fist?
    J. Please answer yes or no.
    LuckyR

    That is an excellent example.
bold
italic
underline
strike
code
quote
ulist
image
url
mention
reveal
youtube
tweet
Add a Comment

Welcome to The Philosophy Forum!

Get involved in philosophical discussions about knowledge, truth, language, consciousness, science, politics, religion, logic and mathematics, art, history, and lots more. No ads, no clutter, and very little agreement — just fascinating conversations.