I have, btw, never claimed that your (hyperspecific) XY and NYHTP scenarios aren't different. The question at hand is whether the differences are ones that actually matter, whether there's a point to reserving the term "XY Problem" for the more narrowly defined situations, and right now I'm not seeing it.

My understanding, and there seems to be at least some agreement on this, is that the essential feature that makes an XY Problem what it is is that of being excessively focused on the use of tool Y to solve problem X, to the point where you might be missing more obvious solutions of X that are right under your nose.

The question of exactly how you're going about asking for help, that you might be forgetting to mention X at all, is, I would say, simply a symptom, not an essential feature.

Note, btw, that if one is not actually asking for help, then we're simply not observing the problem. That doesn't make it any less real.

In reply to Re^9: XY Problem by wrog
in thread XY Problem by jdporter

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