Warnock's dilemma

I have been officially blown away today.

Turns out, there is such a thing as “Warnock’s dilemma.” In short, when you post something online and no one comments or responds to it, your dilemma is to figure out whether that’s because the post was so good, or so bad.

One version, from Dee of classy.dk

“Warnock's Dilemma: The act of choosing whether the lack of response to a discussion-list post is because of its brilliance (there's nothing to add) or because of its stupidity (it doesn't deserve comment).”

The full definition, from the original post.

The problem with no response [to a post] is that there are five possible interpretations:
1. The post is correct, well-written information that needs no follow-up commentary. There's nothing more to say except "Yeah, what he said."
2. The post is complete and utter nonsense, and no one wants to waste the energy or bandwidth to even point this out.
3. No one read the post, for whatever reason.
4. No one understood the post, but won't ask for clarification, for whatever reason.
5. No one cares about the post, for whatever reason.

Worse, the dilemma has entered the language as a verb. If you post something and no one replies, you’ve been “Warnocked.”

How humiliating. As regulars on this blog know, this happens to me all the time. I’ve been getting Warnocked for years and didn’t even know it!

It gets richer: my name, Warnock, literally means “descendant of little protection.” Stretched a bit, you might think “street kid,” “kid with no parents,” “orphan.” Sadly, this perfectly fits a post with no replies. It’s all alone. An orphan. A Warnock. :-(

So it gets even better: Turns out that this is named after my first cousin, Bryan C. Warnock. Our fathers are brothers. I haven’t seen him in a long time, probably since my sister’s wedding. We’ve missed each other at Warnock family reunions in recent years (He went one year I couldn’t and vice versa).

Bryan was always my favorite cousin on the Warnock side. We were close in age (he’s a bit younger) and he had an imaginative side that resonated with me. I still remember him writing a full-length parody of the lyrics to Pink Floyd’s entire album “The Wall.” He called it “The Mall,” and re-wrote every song to fit the context. It was hilarious.

So now Bryan has made the family famous. Bryan: if you’re out there, I’d love to hear from you.

Worst of all: This was first featured in Wired magazine in 2001, and I’m just learning about it today.

It’s a war(ning)-knock life.