- Real life skills
- This can be applied when:
- The answer is simply too embarassing.
- You don’t know the answer but still want to sound smart.
- You want to evade the answer.
- Ex: Mark Zuckerberg in front of Congress on Cambridge Analytica
- Sam Bankman Fried (from FTX crypto drama) is doing a bunch of “non-interviews”
- Some insights:
- Cross examination is the greatest legal engine ever invented for the discovery of truth
- To become a quality cross-examiner, you must master the ability to critically listen to witness’ answers and identify the weakness, fallacies and evasions
- One of the most common evasions = “non-answer” -> At finest, responses don’t appear to be evasive. Sounds like they answered, but actually completely side-stepped it.
Non-answer #1 - Completely avoiding the issue.
- Q: Does this skirt make me look fat?
- A: I love you.
Non-answer #2 - Describing expected procedures
- Q: When was the President informed of your decision?
- A: Protocol demands that the president be Informed immediately in matters like this.
Non-answer 3: Saying what you will do or hope to do
- Q: How soon will you have the virus container?
- A: We are doing what we can.
Non-answer #4: Answering a question with a question
- Q: Did you lock the store before you left?
- A: Why wouldn’t I?
Non-answer #5: Telling what they'd do normally in a situation
- Q: Did you call for backup before approaching car?
- A: Usually in these situations..
- Q: What specifically DID you do?
Non-answer #6: Describing what others did
- Q: Who located the firearm?
- A: Our SWAT team found the firearm in the bedroom.
Non-answer #7: Guessing or Supposing
- Q: Did you read the warning label?
- A: I’m pretty sure I would have
Non-answer #8: The speech or the argument
- Q: I’ll ask the 4th time. You order —
- A: You want answers?
- Q: I think I’m entitled. I want the truth!
- A: You can’t handle the truth [bla blah blah]
Non-answer #9: Half truths or half answers
- Q: Did you order the code red?
- A: I did the job you sent me to do
- Some tactics: Learn to recognise non answers > Ask your questions again.
Originally Annotated by: Sung Yi @ Atlas.
Coffee Break 
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