Warnock's Dilemma
Encyclopedia
Warnock's Dilemma, named for its originator Bryan Warnock, is the problem of interpreting a lack of response to a posting on a mailing list
, Usenet
newsgroup, or Web forum
. It occurs because a lack of response does not necessarily imply that no one is interested in the topic, and could have any one of several different implications, some of which are contradictory. Commonly used in the context of trying to determine why a post has not been replied to, or to refer to a post that has not been replied to.
world and has seen some adoption by webloggers. It is commonly used to refer to the uncertainty of deciding which of any number of reasons caused an absence of responses. Oft-seen phrases include:
"He was Warnocked."
"Warnock applies."
is a problem which offers at least two possibilities, neither of which are practically acceptable. Therefore Warnock's Dilemma, as originally phrased, is not a true dilemma. Properly speaking it is a logical disjunction
. However, many modern dictionaries consider this restriction needless and allow "dilemma" to be used colloquially to refer to a difficult situation with any number of choices, since the term polylemma, which is the appropriate description, has not come to widespread use. Alternatively, the literal-minded can consider the Dilemma to be about whether people are not replying to messages because 1) they are not interested, or 2) for some other reason.
Electronic mailing list
An electronic mailing list is a special usage of email that allows for widespread distribution of information to many Internet users. It is similar to a traditional mailing list — a list of names and addresses — as might be kept by an organization for sending publications to...
, Usenet
Usenet
Usenet is a worldwide distributed Internet discussion system. It developed from the general purpose UUCP architecture of the same name.Duke University graduate students Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived the idea in 1979 and it was established in 1980...
newsgroup, or Web forum
Internet forum
An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are at least temporarily archived...
. It occurs because a lack of response does not necessarily imply that no one is interested in the topic, and could have any one of several different implications, some of which are contradictory. Commonly used in the context of trying to determine why a post has not been replied to, or to refer to a post that has not been replied to.
Original description
Common usage
Since Warnock's original description of the dilemma in August 2000, the expression has become widely used in the PerlPerl
Perl is a high-level, general-purpose, interpreted, dynamic programming language. Perl was originally developed by Larry Wall in 1987 as a general-purpose Unix scripting language to make report processing easier. Since then, it has undergone many changes and revisions and become widely popular...
world and has seen some adoption by webloggers. It is commonly used to refer to the uncertainty of deciding which of any number of reasons caused an absence of responses. Oft-seen phrases include:
"He was Warnocked."
-
Someone posted a question, but nobody replied.
"Warnock applies."
-
Warns readers not to draw conclusions based on the lack of response.
Linguistic aspects
Traditionally, a dilemmaDilemma
A dilemma |proposition]]") is a problem offering two possibilities, neither of which is practically acceptable. One in this position has been traditionally described as "being on the horns of a dilemma", neither horn being comfortable...
is a problem which offers at least two possibilities, neither of which are practically acceptable. Therefore Warnock's Dilemma, as originally phrased, is not a true dilemma. Properly speaking it is a logical disjunction
Logical disjunction
In logic and mathematics, a two-place logical connective or, is a logical disjunction, also known as inclusive disjunction or alternation, that results in true whenever one or more of its operands are true. E.g. in this context, "A or B" is true if A is true, or if B is true, or if both A and B are...
. However, many modern dictionaries consider this restriction needless and allow "dilemma" to be used colloquially to refer to a difficult situation with any number of choices, since the term polylemma, which is the appropriate description, has not come to widespread use. Alternatively, the literal-minded can consider the Dilemma to be about whether people are not replying to messages because 1) they are not interested, or 2) for some other reason.