---
title: Yes Sounding No
author: Geordee Naliyath
date: 2011-12-14
url: https://geord.ee/2011/12/yes-sounding-no
categories:
- blog
- thoughts
---

# Yes Sounding No

"Yes! I will do. But..."

For those who prefer closed-ended questions, the second part of the answer causes problems. Certain questions are expected to be answered _yes_ or _no_. Not _yes_ and _no_.

That's not how the majority of population in this world thinks. The answer can be _yes_ and _no_. And it is not a conditional yes. Even after we include all the conditions to the question, it is possible to get an answer which is neither _yes_ nor _no_. And that is usually a _no_, which sounds like _yes_. It is contradictory. Well, almost contradictory!

In linguistics the yes/no questions are known as polar questions. Logically speaking, it is known as exclusive disjunction. It can be either one or zero, not one and zero. If your philosophy and upbringing are based on mathematical logic, it is difficult to live in the grey area between one and zero. And the _yes-sounding-no_ will puzzle you. Those who are fine with many-valued logic, which has answers such as _yes_, _no_, _unknown_, _i-do-not-like-that-question_ will be able to better live with such situations.

However, if we are ready to accept the _no_, and explore the grey areas towards _yes_, there could be a solution, an answer, a state where _yes_ and _no_ do not matter, where a _yes-sounding-no_ would mean a _no-sounding-yes_, and even better - a resounding yes.