Alex Jones...

[Ken]

Lesson is: Don't say things like the following and make money off of it if you want to keep your assets.

“Why did Hitler blow up the Reichstag — to get control! Why do governments stage these things — to get our guns! Why can’t people get that through their head?”

Alex Jones said that the Sandy Hook parents were faking it, part of a government plot to take people's guns away. He convinced a lot of people that was true.

The consequences for the parents were predictable and obvious. Alex Jones knew that. He knew that his claims were false. The parents and their lawyer contacted him and asked him to stop. He continued ...

Always follow the money. Alex Jones made millions of dollars doing this very thing. That is why he didn't stop. He actually profited off the lies he was telling to the tune of millions of dollars. He was not some poor deluded soul spouting away on YouTube. He had a professional media company with professional production staff all to monetize the lies he was telling.

[Robert]

He knew that his claims were false. The parents and their lawyer contacted him and asked him to stop. He continued ...

I really do not want to defend Alex Jones. My point is that others are doing this same thing and they get a walk. Maxine Waters and Joe Biden himself claims "extreme MAGA" is going to come get them.

[Robert]

Did you follow the trail or are you just going off your sources that seem to not hold up over time?

I was asking questions not making statements.

[Robert]

Always follow the money. Alex Jones made millions of dollars doing this very thing. That is why he didn't stop. He actually profited off the lies he was telling to the tune of millions of dollars. He was not some poor deluded soul spouting away on YouTube. He had a professional media company with professional production staff all to monetize the lies he was telling.

Even if he did those things, $1 billion seems quite ... over the top.

[Ernie]

He knew that his claims were false. The parents and their lawyer contacted him and asked him to stop. He continued ...

I really do not want to defend Alex Jones. My point is that others are doing this same thing and they get a walk. Maxine Waters and Joe Biden himself claims "extreme MAGA" is going to come get them.

I'm not aware that Extreme MAGA has endured anything close to what the Sandy Hook victims have. Once they do, they can sue for money as well.

[Bootstrap]

Did you follow the trail or are you just going off your sources that seem to not hold up over time?

I was asking questions not making statements.

So it's OK to imply negative things about the other person to discredit them, instead of actually responding to what they said, as long as we use question marks? It's the syntactic form that matters?

Should I practice questions like these?

1. "Did you double-check the report or are you just relying on your usual guesses?"
2. "Did you consider all the options or are you just sticking with what you think you know?"
3. "Did you really read the instructions or are you just assuming you know how it works?"
4. "Did you actually talk to the team or are you just making decisions based on your own opinions?"
5. "Did you review the feedback or are you just ignoring it like usual?"

They really aren't all that different from questions like these, just one degree more subtle.

1. "Why can't you ever be on time?"
2. "How many times do I have to tell you to clean up after yourself?"
3. "What were you thinking when you did that?"
4. "Why do you always forget to lock the door?"
5. "Can't you see how much trouble you cause?"
6. "How could you let this happen?"
7. "Why don't you ever listen to me?"
8. "What's wrong with you that you can't follow simple instructions?"
9. "How hard is it to remember to do this one thing?"
10. "Why do you always have to make things so difficult?"

[Bootstrap]

He knew that his claims were false. The parents and their lawyer contacted him and asked him to stop. He continued ...

I really do not want to defend Alex Jones. My point is that others are doing this same thing and they get a walk. Maxine Waters and Joe Biden himself claims "extreme MAGA" is going to come get them.

If other people are doing the same thing, they should not get a walk. There's an interesting exception in US Law, though - public figures are fair game even for ferociously false claims like what you see in many political attack ads and in some media that are essentially ongoing political attack ads.

If these same parents were running for president, they would have lost their suit. Or likely never achieved standing in the first place.

So Joe Biden and Donald Trump really have no legal recourse to stop people from lying about them. We see proof of that in every election.

[Bootstrap]

This is off-topic, but I just discovered something amusing. Maybe this and the other posts along this same line could be moved elsewhere?

You can actually take just about any blaming "you" statement and turn it into a question. This had never occurred to me before, but I think it says something about why some questions feel this way.

Let me demonstrate. These are blaming "you" statements - and none of them is aimed at anybody here, I am doing this as a demonstration:

1. You have no idea what you are talking about
2. You are just making this up.
3. You know that you are lying
4. You make up rules for others but you have no intention of following them yourself
5. You are just saying that because you hate me
6. You are a jerk
7. You are stupid

Now let's turn that into a set of equivalent questions:

1. "Did you check the facts or are you just talking without knowing what you're saying?"
2. "Did you find any real evidence or are you just making things up?"
3. "Did you consider being truthful or are you just knowingly spreading falsehoods?"
4. "Did you think about following your own rules or are they just for everyone else to follow?"
5. "Did you say that because you have a reason, or is it just because you dislike me?"
6. "Did you act that way for a reason, or are you just being a jerk?"
7. "Did you make that mistake because it was complicated, or are you just not thinking clearly?"

These questions each imply exactly the same thing as the more direct statement from the first list. I assume both forms are equally out of bounds? I think the first list is aggressive. I think the second list is passive-aggressive, you have to think a little before you realize what hit you, and it's harder to respond to without tying yourself up in knots. But they say essentially the same thing.

Thought experiment. Suppose someone said each of these things to you. How do the statements in the first list feel different from the questions in the second? What impression of you do you think each conveys to others? How would you respond to each?

[JohnHurt]

This is off-topic, but I just discovered something amusing. Maybe this and the other posts along this same line could be moved elsewhere?

You can actually take just about any blaming "you" statement and turn it into a question. This had never occurred to me before, but I think it says something about why some questions feel this way.

Let me demonstrate. These are blaming "you" statements - and none of them is aimed at anybody here, I am doing this as a demonstration:

1. You have no idea what you are talking about
2. You are just making this up.
3. You know that you are lying
4. You make up rules for others but you have no intention of following them yourself
5. You are just saying that because you hate me
6. You are a jerk
7. You are stupid

Now let's turn that into a set of equivalent questions:

1. "Did you check the facts or are you just talking without knowing what you're saying?"
2. "Did you find any real evidence or are you just making things up?"
3. "Did you consider being truthful or are you just knowingly spreading falsehoods?"
4. "Did you think about following your own rules or are they just for everyone else to follow?"
5. "Did you say that because you have a reason, or is it just because you dislike me?"
6. "Did you act that way for a reason, or are you just being a jerk?"
7. "Did you make that mistake because it was complicated, or are you just not thinking clearly?"

These questions each imply exactly the same thing as the more direct statement from the first list. I assume both forms are equally out of bounds? I think the first list is aggressive. I think the second list is passive-aggressive, you have to think a little before you realize what hit you, and it's harder to respond to without tying yourself up in knots. But they say essentially the same thing.

Thought experiment. Suppose someone said each of these things to you. How do the statements in the first list feel different from the questions in the second? What impression of you do you think each conveys to others? How would you respond to each?

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

[Bootstrap]

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

Well, no. It's not the Socratic method. You need a very different kind of question for that. Like the ones Socrates used. Questions more like this:

1. **Clarification Questions:**
- What do you mean by that?
- Can you give me an example?
- How does this relate to what we were talking about?

2. **Probing Assumptions:**
- What are you assuming here?
- Why do you think that assumption holds true?
- Could we approach this issue from another angle?

3. **Probing Rationale, Reasons, and Evidence:**
- What evidence supports this idea?
- Why do you think this evidence is valid?
- Are there any other perspectives or data points?

4. **Questioning Viewpoints and Perspectives:**
- Why do you think this is the case?
- How would someone who disagrees with you view this situation?
- Can you think of any counterarguments?

5. **Probing Implications and Consequences:**
- What are the implications of your argument?
- If we follow this line of reasoning, where does it lead us?
- What might be the long-term consequences?

6. **Questions About the Question:**
- Why do you think I asked that question?
- What does that question assume?
- How could someone answer this question?