"Disaction" may be the right word for what Chris Buck is describing, especially if it gains traction and people generally think it means "when refusal to take action in the face of an identifiable risk leads to predictably undesirable consequences."
My concern with the word "disaction" is that people might think of the word "disinformation" which is false information that is deliberately and often covertly spread to influence public opinion or obscure the truth, typically with the intent to mislead, harm, or manipulate. Folks who recently added disinformation to their vocabulary might think disaction is some sort of false action.
But maybe not. I might be the only person to ever think of disaction as anything like disinformation.
I'll throw this idea out. Is there an adjective that could be put in front of the word "inaction" to make a phrase "_____ inaction" that conveys the idea of "when refusal to take action in the face of an identifiable risk leads to predictably undesirable consequences?" Head-in-the-sand inaction is a bit wordy but is arguably more clear if no definition for disaction is provided.
I like "disaction" because my first free-association is "disaster." But fair point that other minds might jump to other "dis-" words that are less appropriate.
I'm clear-eyed about the odds any terms I coin will ever catch on - the chance of it is probably near zero.
But re-wiring my own mind for a more Earthsea-like recognition of a hidden thread that's been driving me crazy since the start of the pandemic is still good exercise.
It can be hard to find the right word.
"Disaction" may be the right word for what Chris Buck is describing, especially if it gains traction and people generally think it means "when refusal to take action in the face of an identifiable risk leads to predictably undesirable consequences."
My concern with the word "disaction" is that people might think of the word "disinformation" which is false information that is deliberately and often covertly spread to influence public opinion or obscure the truth, typically with the intent to mislead, harm, or manipulate. Folks who recently added disinformation to their vocabulary might think disaction is some sort of false action.
But maybe not. I might be the only person to ever think of disaction as anything like disinformation.
I'll throw this idea out. Is there an adjective that could be put in front of the word "inaction" to make a phrase "_____ inaction" that conveys the idea of "when refusal to take action in the face of an identifiable risk leads to predictably undesirable consequences?" Head-in-the-sand inaction is a bit wordy but is arguably more clear if no definition for disaction is provided.
I like "disaction" because my first free-association is "disaster." But fair point that other minds might jump to other "dis-" words that are less appropriate.
I'm clear-eyed about the odds any terms I coin will ever catch on - the chance of it is probably near zero.
https://cbuck.substack.com/p/thria-or-alaea-could-be-good-names
But re-wiring my own mind for a more Earthsea-like recognition of a hidden thread that's been driving me crazy since the start of the pandemic is still good exercise.