The Black Hole Of Questions (BHOQ): Questions and Answers in Satisfying Communication

Communication is the lifeblood of a relationship, whether the relationship is professional or personal. The Black Hole Of Questions (BHOQ) is a construct developed by the author to describe a communication phenomenon that can negatively impact personal and professional relationships. Specifically, the BHOQ refers to the void into which questions posed by one interactive partner to another disappear.

This is primarily an email or written communication phenomenon, which results in dissonance for the relational partner posing the unanswered question. Perhaps you have experienced a situation where you have asked a colleague, friend, or relational partner a question via email or letter, and although you receive a response to the email or letter, you receive no response or acknowledgment that you ever asked the question. Consider how you felt when your request for information, clarification, etc. was seemingly ignored?Any negativity you might have felt as a result of having your question ignored is understandable.

Effects of the BHOQ
It takes effort to communicate, to ask questions, and we generally have good reasons for the questions we ask. If individuals to whom we address questions appear unable or unwilling to take the time or make the effort to respond to our questions, then our efforts seem in vain. The recipient of a question who fails to answer it sends a message, however unintentionally, to the individual who asked the question which says, in essence, "Neither you nor your question is worthy of the time and energy it would take to acknowledge or answer your question." Receipt of such a message is not likely to enhance the state of a relationship, regardless of the relationship's nature.