Just Asking Questions
"Just Asking Questions" (JAQ; known derisively as "JAQing off")[a] is a pseudoskeptical tactic often used by conspiracy theorists to present false or distorted claims by framing them as questions. If criticized, the proponent of such a claim may then defend themselves by asserting they were merely asking questions which may upset the mainstream consensus.[2][3][4] The name of the tactic is therefore derived from the typical response of "I'm not saying it was necessarily a conspiracy; I'm just asking questions."[5] In The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe, Steven Novella distinguishes JAQ from scientific skepticism by explaining that:[6]
[W]hen true scientists ask a question, they want an answer and will give due consideration to any possibilities. Deniers, on the other hand, will ask the same undermining questions over and over, long after they have been definitively answered. The questions—used to cast doubt—are all they are interested in, not the process of discovery they're meant to inspire.
An early usage of the tactic can be found in Bertrand Russell's essay 16 Questions on the Assassination, which insinuated that American president John F. Kennedy was assassinated by someone other than Lee Harvey Oswald.[4][7] JAQ as a tactic to justify pseudoarcheological claims was popularized by the Swiss author Erich von Däniken and the American TV show Ancient Aliens,[2][3] and became further prevalent with the rise of the internet.[4]
Notes
[edit]- ^ JAQing Off is a play on words which blends the acronym JAQ with the slang term jacking off, i.e. masturbation.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ Ming 1, Wu (2022-09-08). Q comme Qomplot: Comment les fantasmes de complot défendent le système [Q for Qonspiracy: How the fantasies of conspiracy defend the system] (in French). Lux Éditeur. p. 163. ISBN 978-2-89833-046-9.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b Moshenska, Gabriel (2017-09-28). Key Concepts in Public Archaeology. UCL Press. p. 129. ISBN 978-1-911576-43-3.
- ^ a b Conner, Christopher T.; Hannah, Matthew N.; MacMurray, Nicholas J. (2024-08-15). Conspiracy Theories and Extremism in New Times. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 57. ISBN 978-1-6669-3309-3.
- ^ a b c Brotherton, Rob (2015-11-19). Suspicious Minds: Why We Believe Conspiracy Theories. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 78. ISBN 978-1-4729-1564-1.
- ^ Wood 2021, p. 104.
- ^ Novella, Dr Steven (2018-10-02). The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe: How to Know What's Really Real in a World Increasingly Full of Fake. Grand Central Publishing. p. 202. ISBN 978-1-5387-6051-2.
- ^ Gagné, Michel Jacques (2022-03-27). Thinking Critically About the Kennedy Assassination: Debunking the Myths and Conspiracy Theories. Routledge. p. 125. ISBN 978-1-000-54412-1.
Works cited
[edit]- Wood, Michael James (2021-09-09). Connections and contradictions : the social psychology of conspiracy theories (phd thesis). University of Kent. doi:10.22024/unikent/01.02.86509.