Say it with me, class: "Abulia"

Thank goodness for TV shows about brain disorders or I wouldn't be able to laugh at my life nearly enough. Last week's "House," which I am only watching today on account of not having a television, was kind enough to provide me with a word I've been needing for a long, long time.

"Abulia" is, evidently, the inability to make decisions or act independently. This, unfortunately, describes almost every man I've ever dated.

But more importantly for IT people, it describes almost any community of users. Not any individual user--they usually have some idea of what they want, and if you were going to give it to them in a vacuum where there were no other users, they'd be really, really happy. But the unfortunate thing about any IT enterprise is that its product must be shared by many, many people. And as anyone who has ever attempted to rent a video with more than five people can tell you, decision-making is not generally the strong point of a large group.

It's a really, really useful concept. Abulia.