September 19, 2003

Cognitive Dissonance

Bill Hobbs is running a poll that asks:

Why Won't You Participate in Online Polls?

Bill offers the following choices:

I don't want to.
You aren't paying me to.
I don't want you to know what I think.
I'm not sure what I think.
I'm afraid. Very afraid.
Howard Dean
I don't vote in polls about why I won't vote in polls. (The Sundseth Conundrum)

Now far be it from me to complain about anything on Bill's superb site, but pedant that I am, from a purely logical perspective one can only infer that this poll must, by definition, have no respondents. Alas, Google had no useful links to help explain what the Sundseth Conundrum might be, but to select this choice still requires participation in an online poll -- to wit, this one.

DOWNDATE: I have discovered the source of the Sundseth Conundrum (comment 1). Alas, it does not address the paradox I have raised.

Posted by Charles Austin at September 19, 2003 04:27 PM
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